You know how in movies about cops, the FBI and any other types of law enforcement agencies, the characters always have a full floor, if not a few, where they have rows and rows of shelves with files?
I've never been to other police stations, but I know that's not how it is with the Estevan police building.
Their files are piled up in the garage, right where the vehicles are supposed to be, just because there is no room even for people in the main building, let alone papers. At least that's not how it was.
If you've ever taken a generous invitation to tour the station on one of their open-house days, you would see the conditions in which people there work. Not only do some parts of the building feel outdated and not complying with contemporary standards (I guess many organizations struggle with upkeeping the offices in the fast-changing world), but it obviously was too tight for the operation.
Once the police station expansion project was approved, many people raised concerns about the cost of the construction to the public. Many doubted the need for it, arguing that instead, it would be better to cut the police department.
Others just suggested that it wasn't needed, as the Estevan Police Service members could have kept working in the environment they had. Some people suggested that times were too tough to build anything.
But unfortunately, crime doesn't go away because times are tough, it rather doubles if not triples. The police service is required at all times, and after all the scale of the organization reflects the situation and the needs of the particular community. If it's big, then that's how the community is (I bet the North Battleford's police service is way bigger than ours, and the population there is not that huge).
I do my best to be as unbiased as I can at work. I'm usually friendly (if it ever looked different, my apologies, I probably got lost in translation), but I distinguish between work and friendship. Back at school we had a course on journalist ethics, the prof was one of the toughest ones, and I learned the lesson for life.
It doesn't matter how I feel about the Estevan Police Service and the people who work there, all I know is that the conditions they were working in are not right by all means and measures. How is it possible to complete an investigation when you don't have room to organize anything? How can you precisely interview anyone when there are people around? How can you focus and be productive when you sit back to back with another professional? Especially in critical situations, how can you justify the need to have all the stuff in different parts of the building because your office is too small to keep anything? And my personal concern: how can one remain a nice human being working out of a basement?
Despite all that, our police department has been catching those breaking laws and decreasing the crime rates in the community, making it safer for every one of us.
Workplaces look very different from company to company. Google's offices all over the world made millions of other professionals jealous. There is no lack of either cafes and restaurants supplying food for employees or comfortable rest areas where workers can relax their brains to become more productive after all.
There are a lot of open spaces, but also room for privacy if an employee chooses to work in their own environment. Some of the offices would have massage rooms to help staff get rid of stress.
But Google's workplace approach often pales before the Silicone Valley businesses, most of which religiously believe that the best and most innovative outcomes grow only in a perfect, most inspiring environment, where an employee doesn't get distracted by any kind of possible needs and focuses solely on their inventions.
Most workplaces, though, are nothing similar to the IT industry and are pretty simple and straightforward. However, it's been proven that work conditions significantly impact morale and productivity. Moreover, a healthy work environment improves and protects workers' well-being. It also reduces the chances of workplace injuries, which means less financial problems and less time-off.
Work in the law enforcement industry is dangerous, stressful and tough to begin with. Add poor work conditions, and the outcomes may be pretty sad. To my knowledge, Estevan has been fortunate enough to have a fair and decent police service. But I'd say that it is that way, not because of but in spite of the existing conditions.
So I was pretty excited to learn that the annex for the Estevan police station is almost complete. I'm sincerely happy not only for the EPS members who finally will have a decent workplace and will be able to have room to do the job but also for the community. This project and this building will serve us for years, and it will also allow for a confident and sustainable police service through all the good and bad times that are to come.
