NELSON, B.R. ((NELSON, B.R. (Barrett Ricky)))

Regimental Number: #29176

Pillar Location: VII - 7

Troop Number and Year: TR. 10 1971/72

Regimental Number: #29176

Pillar Location: VII - 7

Troop Number and Year: Tr.10 1971/72

Marital Status: Married to Susan Stefansson in 1975 and have three mature children – two sons and one daughter. 

First Posting:  Constable, Lundar Detachment, Lundar, Manitoba 

Final Posting:  Sergeant, Non Commissioned Officer in charge (NCO i/c) Minnedosa Detachment, Minnedosa, Manitoba 

I was born in Kinistino, Saskatchewan and was raised on a mixed farm.  At eighteen years old there weren’t many jobs in my small prairie town so I began guarding prisoners for the Kinistino Town Police and the Melfort RCMP.  This began my curiosity in policing. During the quiet times while guarding prisoners there was lots of time to read and learn from the various law books that were available, which created a better understanding of law enforcement and more particularly the job of policing.  There were many questions and conversations about police work with the police members, which led to the RCMP members encouraging me to apply for the RCMP. 

I applied for the RCMP in February 1971 and was accepted in July 1971.  During this time a position came open on the 2 person Kinistino Town Police.  I applied and became a Kinistino Town Police Constable from March to June, 1971, at which time the Kinistino Town Police was dissolved and Melfort RCMP took over by way of contract policing.  This short stint on the Kinistino Town Police gave me exposure to the courts and legal system and convinced me that policing was going to be my career.  In July 1971 I was ‘sworn in’ by the Officer Commanding, Prince Albert Sub Division, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and was promptly dispatched to Depot Division, Regina, Saskatchewan, for training. 

Training at Depot Division was a brand new experience and a real eye opener.  I became a member of Troop 10 71/72, which formed up on July 19th, 1971.  We began by bunking in 6 man dorms, and were later moved to the larger 1 room 32 man dorm.  This living accommodation took some time to get used to, but soon grew on us and became a normal part of life.  Although training was not easy, I can comfortably say that it made better men out of all of us.  We graduated with 31 members who were transferred to various places across Canada. What was remarkable at that time was the fact that during our 6 months in Depot there was a new Troop of 32 members starting almost every Monday we were there.  This was remarkable in that in subsequent years there were very few to no troops at all trained at Depot.   

My RCMP career was spent in uniform in “D” Division (Manitoba) performing rural, municipal, highway patrol, and First Nations policing.  At most of my postings, human resources were at a minimum, and you often worked by yourself except when you would be paired up with a partner on weekends.  Working alone most of the time often caused a different reaction or application of the law than might have been done under different circumstances.  Discretion was an important tool because it became personally defined by actually feeling it and applied as dictated by the delicate or dicey situation faced at the time.  Working alone was certainly a character builder, but also the major way work got done.  

My Postings: 

“Depot” Training Division - 1971-1972 - Recruit 

Lundar Detachment, Lundar, Manitoba – 1972-1973 - Constable - Investigator 

Teulon Detachment, Teulon, Manitoba – 1973-1974 - Constable - Investigator 

Headingley Detachment and Headingley Highway Patrol – 1974-1976 -Constable – Investigator and Traffic Enforcement. 

Carberry Detachment, Carberry, Manitoba – 1976-1982 - Constable - Investigator 

Flin Flon Detachment, Flin Flon, Manitoba – 1982-1984 - Constable – Investigator / Supervisor 

Lundar Detachment, Lundar, Manitoba-1984-9-1991 – Corporal – i/c Operations / Investigator 

Gillam Detachment, Gillam, Manitoba – 1991-1994 – Sergeant – NCO i/c  

Minnedosa Detachment, Minnedosa, Manitoba – 1994-1998 – Sergeant - NCO i/c  

Significant Achievements and Highlights: 

Senior Constable/ Field Trainer for 4 recruits for their first 6 months at their first posting after training at Depot – 1974-1981 

Instructor/Facilitator on behalf of the Manitoba Police Commission for Band and Community Police Constables Training – 1985-1991 

Instructor/Facilitator for the `D` Division RCMP Breathalyzer Course – which included ALL police departments in Manitoba – 1981-1991 

Received Certificate in Hostage Negotiators studies – Canadian Police College – 1979 

Received Certificate in Instructional Techniques studies– Canadian Police College – 1983 

Received Certificate in Senior Personnel Administration studies - Canadian Police College – 1992 

Arranged for the last `motor car` used in the RCMP at Gillam Detachment, Gillam Manitoba to be transferred to and displayed at the Heritage Center.  Gillam Detachment was the last to use this motor car, and the very first Detachment in the RCMP to use a `high rail` (a truck with bogies or wheels that allow travel on the railroad). These units were/are used to travel down the railroad tracks to the patrol cabin situated 65 kilometers away at Ilford, Manitoba. 

Retiring after almost 27 year’s continuous service, I continued to work for the Province of Manitoba, for the first 14 months as the Supervisor of Security and Parking for all provincial buildings in the West Region.  I then moved to the Province of Manitoba, Emergency Measures Organization where I was Manager of the West region working with 98 municipalities ensuring they had emergency plans in place for the big incidents beyond the scope of police, fire, ambulance, and municipal staff normal day to day duties, such as floods, forest fires, dangerous goods incidents, Y2K, spread of farm animal diseases, etc.  This also included Facilitating all training and instructing the courses in my Region as well as assisting my cohorts with training in the other Regions in the Province.  A highlight was going to the Czech Republic to do training on flooding at their National Fire College.  I retired from the Province of Manitoba in 2011.  From 2012 to 2019 I worked – during the summer growing season - for a company that was hired by Bayer Crop Sciences and Monsanto specifically to enforce their intellectual property rights for Canola and Soybeans.  This involved securing the land base and what was seeded on each field from the farmer as well as obtaining his seed and spray purchases, then doing physical observations of each field and taking plant counts and samples of the crop and doing the analysis of the samples.   

 Since 2019 I have been fully retired and have enjoyed travel across Canada and the USA.  We expect to resume travel again now that the Covid restrictions are being removed and travel is getting back to normal.    

Divisions Served: Depot, D Div. MB

Medals and Honours: Long Service Medal

Pillar Location: VII - 7

Regimental Number: #29176

Training Division: Depot

Troop Number and Year: Tr.10 1971/72

Home Town: Kinistino, SK

Engagement Date: Jul 19, 1971

Pillar Location: VII - 7

Regimental Number: #29176

Troop Number and Year: TR. 10 1971/72