David Wayne Doncaster

Divisions Served: “C,” “A,” “F,” “E,” “Depot”

Medals & Honours: Long Service Medal with Bronze and Silver Clasps, 25 Year Emergency Services Personnel Medal of Saskatchewan, Jordanian International Police Training Centre Medal

Pillar Location: Pillar VII, Row 28, Column F

Story: 

Sgt. David Wayne DONCASTER (Ret.) was engaged as a regular member of the RCMP on March 12, 1982 at Halifax, Nova Scotia. During his years with the Force he served as a Use of Force Subject Matter Expert, Police Defensive Tactics Master Instructor, Taser Master Instructor, Firearms Instructor, Emergency Response Team leader, Detachment Commander and supervisor. He spent several years as part of the instructional staff at “Depot” Division in Cadet Training as well as on the National Law Enforcement Training Unit. After retiring having completed 34 years as a regular member and another 2 years serving as a Reservist, he returned once again to instruct in the “Depot” Division Cadet Training Program as a member of the Federal Public Service.

Originally from Amherst, N.S. (B: December 12, 1960) he travelled to Montreal, Quebec upon engagement and entered training there to participate in a French emersion program for 5 months. Once completed, he attended “Depot” Division in August of 1982 to begin Recruit Training which was conducted entirely in French during the 6 month duration.

After graduation, his first posting was “A” Div. Protective Operations in Ottawa, Ontario. His assignment at that time included bodyguard duties for internationally protected persons such as the diplomatic staff of the Turkish Embassy, the Deputy High Commissioner of India, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and his children including the current Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

On January 27th, 1985, David began his first general duty posting at Foam Lake, Saskatchewan and was assigned to Highway Patrol and detachment policing. These duties continued until his transfer to Regina Detachment on January 7th, 1987.

During his time in Regina between then and 1995, he served on Detachment, Highway Patrol and the “F” Division Emergency Response Team. It was also during this time that he served for 6 years as the Chief Instructor of the “Depot” Division Karate Club. For many years he held a position on the Saskatchewan Provincial Karate Team, travelling the country to represent the province in several national blackbelt championships.

On June 26, 1995 David and his wife, Diana and their two children, Braydon and Brittany, were transferred to the small village of Pelly, Saskatchewan. Pelly is the closest inhabited settlement to the former North-West Mounted Police headquarters also known as the Swan River Barracks. It was during his time there that he established the Norquay Karate Club which gave him and his family a chance to spend time with members of the community outside his policing role.

David was promoted to the rank of Corporal on July 4th, 1997 and posted to Pinehouse Lake, Saskatchewan where he served as the detachment commander. Pinehouse Lake was a limited duration posting at that time and is a Metis Settlement well off the beaten track in northern Saskatchewan.

Following their time at Pinehouse Lake, Cpl. Doncaster and his family were transferred on March 13, 1999 to Yorkton, Sask. where he was assigned the role of watch commander for “B”watch. The RCMP were contracted to provide policing for the City of Yorkton which was a change from what had been primarily “rural” policing duties during his time in Saskatchwan to this point.

David’s last shift in Yorkton was on September 11th, 2001 which coincided with the unforgettable tragedy resulting in the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City. On this date, the movers packed up the Doncaster family and moved them to Regina once again.

September 13th, 2001 was David’s start date as an instructor on the Police Defensive Tactics (PDT) unit at Depot Division. He was involved in the training of a large number of RCMP cadets and members of law enforcement agencies outside the RCMP.

June 26-27th of 2002 brought the 28th G8 Summit to Kananaskis, Alberta. “Depot” Division was tasked to create two Public Order teams to assist in the security operations. Former Emergency Response Team members posted at Depot were asked to begin the training and formation of the first and, as of this time of writing, only official ERT at “Depot” Division. Two teams were formed, and Cpl. Doncaster was asked to lead one with the other lead by Sgt. Roger Plamondon. Many months of training were required and Depot fielded two Public Order Teams with an Emergency Response Teams embedded in each. The G8 Summit was a calm and orderly event for the Depot teams.

David continued as a PDT instructor until January 2005 when he was seconded for 6 months as a firearms instructor to the Jordanian International Training Centre in Amman, Jordan. There he was a part of a large international contingent that provided training to members of the Iraqi National Police Force. Many long and hot days were spent in the desert providing training to the Iraqi police students, many of which lost their lives upon returning to Iraq to take up their posts. A constant reminder of how fortunate Canadians are in these modern times.

Upon returning to Canada in June, 2005, David was assigned to the Applied Police Sciences Unit at Depot where he lead a team of two other members responsible for the instruction of cadets in law, policy and other administrative functions.

On April 3, 2007 David was transferred back to Regina Detachment where he served as the acting Operations NCO providing supervision to the supervisors and members of the detachment while reporting to the S\Sgt. NCO i\c. He continued to be involved in the training of members on courses such as the Public and Police Safety Instructor’s Course.

Promoted to the rank of Sergeant on July, 23, 2008, David returned to “Depot” Division as a member of the National Law Enforcement Training Unit (NLET). His main duties there were the training of defensive tactics instructors for client agencies across Canada. These included the Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, Canadian Border Services, House of Commons Security, the Canadian Senate Security and Atomic Energy of Canada.

During his time at NLET Sgt. Doncaster was seconded to the 2010 Winter Olympics as a supervisor of 70 members of the RCMP and other agencies providing security services at the Cypress Mountain venue. The most interesting aspect of this venue was the need to use helicopters to carry snow to the top of the mountain to facilitate the events since there was a lack of snow as a result of the unusually warm winter. Rain and sleet were the watchwords for the entire 4 weeks of this duty with the exception of approximately 1.5 days where the rain stopped. Members were housed on cruise ships in the Vancouver Harbour. The members dubbed this the “Cruise to Nowhere” since the ships didn’t leave the port!

Several years of this work eventually gave way to Sgt. Doncaster’s final posting as the NCO i\c of the Force Options Training Unit in Prince George, B.C. This unit was responsible for overseeing and providing use of force training to all of the “E” Div. North District members. Eventually the unit name was changed to the North District Operational Skills Training Unit given the large scope of training programs overseen by the 3 person unit. Firearms, Taser, Public and Police Safety and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear courses to name a few.

Once again David was enlisted in his role as major events security supervisor and he served as a Bronze Commander during the Canada Winter Games hosted by Prince George, B.C. from February 13th to March 1st 2015. This assignment meant the continuous relaying of information from the front line supervisors and Games managers to the RCMP Silver and Gold Commanders.

Finally, Sgt. Doncaster retired from regular member service on March 14th, 2016 having completed 34 years of service. After their daughter Brittany graduated from the University of Northern British Columbia and took her first job in Ft. St. John as a clinical psychologist, David and Diana decided to take their final transfer back to Regina where their son, Braydon, was posted as a Master Corporal with the Royal Regina Rifles.

On September 10th 2018 Sgt. Doncaster (Ret.) was sworn in as a member of the RCMP Reserve Program. While in that role he assisted the “F” Div. training unit with use of force training courses and travelled throughout the division providing short term relief to members on detachments as needed.

Eventually this gave way to his returning to “Depot” Division to be sworn in on November 12th, 2019 as a member of the Federal Public Service and accepted a full time instructional role on the Applied Police Sciences unit of the Cadet Training Program.

Sgt. David Doncaster (Ret.) and Diana remain in Regina at the time of writing, enjoying the plentiful sunshine on their motorcycles, visiting with their son, renewing friendships from years gone by in Regina and meeting the neighbours and their children. Although his time as an operational member of the RCMP has come to a close, David is grateful for the opportunity to help train the next generation of members to serve in Canada’s national police force.