A tasty treat awaited members of the Vernon RCMP after a long day on Thursday, Feb. 1.
Guy Bailey, Martin von Holst and Andrew Wylie presented the detachment with a cake, and a proclamation for the now fourth annual RCMP Appreciation Day.
Vernon North Okanagan RCMP members were recognized on Thursday, Feb. 1 for the 4th annual RCMP Appreciation Day! #vernon pic.twitter.com/iHzNC8DZiR
— Vernon Morning Star (@VernonNews) February 2, 2024
“It is very touching,” said operations manager for the Vernon RCMP Blake MacLeod. “I’m not joking, we don’t do what we do to get accolades but it’s very kind and very nice and it’s really truly appreciated.”
Bailey, von Holst and Wylie are committee members of the appreciation day which started back in 2019.
Although none of the members had any background in policing, they shared a mutual appreciation for RCMP members, and wanted them to be recognized.
“This was in 2019, and then we found out in 2020 that it would be the 100th anniversary of the RCMP so we really wanted do something,” said Bailey.
The group then started a petition, which was carried and eventually put into writing as an official provincial proclamation.
“We talked to every detachment and they all jumped on board, every mayor and MLA. It was a big email campaign sent out to every detachment in the province,” said von Holst.
Currently just B.C. and Manitoba have the day recognized provincially. The ultimate goal is to have it recognized federally, country-wide.
The RCMP covers 99 per cent of the geographic area of B.C. and answers more than one million calls for service in a year.
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