James Stephen Currie

Divisions Served: “N,” “P,” “O,” “H”

Medals and Honours: Long Service Medal with Gold Bar

Pillar Location: Coming soon

Story: 

Troop 4, Training from – July 1966 to January 1967, “N” Division and “P” Divisions

I was sworn in on July 8 1966 at “H” Division HQ, Halifax, NS, and became a regular member. Then I was off to basic training in Ottawa, Ontario, with three other newly minted members from Nova Scotia. Upon arriving in Ottawa we were met by an RCMP chauffeur at the train station. The chauffeur dropped us at the guard house at “N” Division. This was the beginning of the next four plus months of training. Training was being reorganized in 1966. Equitation was dropped from our syllabus however we had stable duties. We had our four sections of horses for training instruction, and later that summer we also received all of the horses from Depot Division, making for approximately 150 plus horses. In November, Troops three and four packed up the training equipment and we were off to Penhold, Alberta to complete the next phase of our training. Most of my troop mates went to Alberta via passenger train. From Calgary we completed our trip by bus to Penhold. We spent the next month doing fatigues as the facility which we were to occupy had not been in use since the end of WWII, where it had been used as a Commonwealth Airforce training base. We had perhaps 2 to 3 more weeks training. Then we prepared for our graduation which happened on January 8th. 1967. Ottawa troops 3 and 4 were the last troops to train at “N” Division, Ottawa and the first troops to graduate from “P” Division, Penhold, Alberta.

Regular Member – July 8, 1966 to July 11, 2001

On January 8 after our graduation, myself and a troop mate of mine, drove to “O” Division HQ in Toronto, Ontario. We had to follow snow ploughs in northern Ontario because of heavy snow and poor driving conditions. I was stationed at the following detachments in “O” Division: Toronto Town Station, Lester B. Pearson Airport Detachment, Windsor Detachment, Point Pelee National Park Detachment and Sarnia Detachment. In 1972 I left “O” Division and was transferred to “H” Division, Amherst Detachment. In 1976 I was promoted and transferred to Truro, Highway Patrol as 2 I/c, then was transferred to Truro Sub Division, MBC-CSA Section as I/c. Duties including both federal and provincial games enforcement. In 1979 I was transferred to Beddeck Detachment, and was in an acting Sgt. position as detachment commander for the four months and then returned to Truro Detachment as 2 I/c where I remained until 1985. In 1985, I returned to “O” Division, TDS (Toronto, Drug, Section), Chemical Unit. While stationed on Toronto drug section, I had secondments to Division Training Section where I taught PIRS (Police Information Retrieval System) EDPS (Executive Diplomatic Protection Service) as a patrol NCO. During the Toronto, G7, I was i/c of a crowd infiltration unit assigned to the security detail of Prime Minister of England, Margaret Thatcher. In late 1987, I was transferred to Security Systems Section, my duties included security consultations for various Federal Government Departments including RCMP detachments through out the province of Ontario as well as the vital points program. In 1992 most of “O” Division HQ staff were relocated to London, Ontario and so was I. I remained in London, Ontario the rest of my service. In 1995 after the end of the Cold War, I was transferred to DCAS (Division Criminal Analytical Section). I was both a tactical and strategic analyst investigating organized crime. During my 6 years on this section I also spent 1 year instructing NCDB (National Crime Data Base) throughout Ontario. I remained working with this section until completion of my career as a regular member having served 35 years on July 11, 2001.

Some of the high lights during my career in the RCMP

Starting in 1967 (Canada’s Centennial Year) soon after arriving in Toronto from training, I was assigned VIP duties that involved heads of state from countries all over the world. During most of these duties I was in red surge standing in hotel rooms, hotel hallways and on airport ramps. I continued to perform VIP duties from time to time during most of my service where I worked on security details for Kings, Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Pope John Paul 2. In 1981, I worked the Halifax Police Strike. RCMP members had to assist senior members of the Halifax Police Service, as the constables had gone out on strike. This was a two week assignment. We policed the city of Halifax with the aid of senior Halifax police officers. On the second day of this police strike, I was assigned policing duties, with Halifax City Police detective squad, investigating a murder of a 4 year old girl. This investigation resulted in a charge of murder against a notorious serial killer. In the early 1990’s, I worked what was commonly referred to as the Oka Crisis. For members of “O” Division this took place near Cornwall, Ontario. I also worked on other major events including G7 Toronto, On., G8 Halifax, NS, OAS Windsor, On. In May of 2001 I was involved in the last major event of my career, Summit of the Americas, Quebec City, PQ. At this event I experienced being tear gassed for only the second time since being exposed to it in a training exercise in “N” Division, when I was a recruit. This happened because of a wind change of direction blowing the gas into the building I was working in. It was uncomfortable working there for a few hours. When I returned to my unit in London, Ontario, I had to have my entire uniform dry cleaned to get rid of the tear gas smell. After that experience, I worked for two more months, then retired.

Civilian Member – October 2004 to November 2005

In late 2004 I successfully entered an open competition for members and ex-members to teach the new Force-wide paperless reporting system known as PROS. I was re-engaged as a Civilian Member and taught PROS (Police Reporting Occurrence System) in Ontario for the remainder of 2004 and into 2005, I instructed this new system, at several detachments, including London, Windsor, Kitchener, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Milton and Toronto Airport Detachment and several other Toronto specialized units. The difficult part of this job involved setting up and tearing down the computerized classrooms on a regular basis. We had to teach members who had a wide array of skill levels, as some members had little or no computer skills. I was one of 8 mainly retired members who were tasked with providing this instruction. I had experienced many changes in the day to day operations of the RCMP since I retired and was keenly aware that things would continue to evolve with the passage of time. This new system was only the beginning.

Passing on the torch in RCMP

Two of my daughters have worked for the RCMP. One was a public servant for a few years doing short term contracts at Division Headquarters in London. In 2019, I had the privilege of presenting my youngest daughter with her badge at her graduation from “Depot” Division, Regina, Saskatchewan. She is a regular member of the RCMP doing general duties stationed in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. She tells me “she is in a career she loves.” Some of her stories bring back memories of days gone by. I have an understanding of most of what she does and the PROS system she finds herself working with every day. Examples are: doing reworks, scoring the file, having her que full, linking different persons of interest, to name a few. Policing itself remains the same: “to serve and protect”. I had the privilege of working with many dedicated and remarkable men and women over the span of my career. Sworn into the RCMP, as teenager, I couldn’t imagine the adventures, diversity, travels and challenges that would be my life and family. I will cherish those memories forever.