Retired LPS officer takes over The Watch
By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on January 27, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com A retired constable with the Lethbridge Police Service has acquired a new role as a civilian taking over as the new manager of The Watch program.Shane Kisinger said he was able to enjoy two full days of retirement from the force, before tackling his new role, this time as a civilian.
“The Watch manager is a really easy role for me because having spent 18.5 years as a police officer and getting to continue into my retirement…is really great and it allows me a different opportunity to serve, not from the law enforcement side, but more from the helping and caring side, which I’m looking forward to as well,” said Kisinger.
He explained that The Watch program is a volunteer-based initiative, with some full-time employees that take volunteers out in the community, and one of the major roles is being an extra set of eyes and ears for both law enforcement and emergency services.
Kisinger said that in his new role, he will be putting in a lot of time as he has big shoes to fill from Jeff Cove who was one of the first volunteers to join The Watch when it was implemented in the spring of 2019 and stepped up as manager in early 2020.
“I need to learn everything that Jeff does as the manager and all the office roles he played. Jeff also had the luxury of being a volunteer prior to being a manager, which I don’t have, so I have to learn my role of what The Watch volunteers and their team leads do, as well as what the manager does,” said Kisinger.
He said he has been out patrolling the streets with the teams already, and is hoping to do it on a regular basis.
“My first time out there walking was actually kind of great, because as police officers, you’re usually dealing with people in crisis and you don’t have the luxury of turning away and walking away if somebody doesn’t want your assistance, so one of my first experiences out there I was just checking on someone to make sure they’re okay, they kind of yelled at me and told me to leave,” said Kisinger.
He said the ability to walk away when someone does not accept help, has been very different and hard to wrap his head around.
“That’s very different of not having to take that enforcement role and just being there checking on people,” said Kisinger.
He said he won’t be implementing anything new for the first six months to make sure he is very familiar with the role, but he has lots of ideas he wants to bring forward.
“I want to be very well informed before I make any changes,” said Kisinger.
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