BARRHEAD- Fil Vicente always suspected he would end up having a career in policing.
The real question is what police force and where his career would take him, and for now, the answer is the RCMP and Barrhead.
After a more than a two-year wait, Vicente filled the corporal position that remained vacant after the departure of Cpl. Riley Sutherland, who accepted a transfer to the RCMP training depot in Regina. The Barrhead Leader spoke to Vicente on May 18, his second day on the job.
Vicente is a 10-year RCMP member.
"I have several family members who are in law enforcement," he said, including two or three in his native Portugal.
Vicente came to Canada, at least on a part-time basis, when he was four years old, living with his mother in Toronto. He would rotate back and forth between Canada and Portugal, where he would stay with his grandparents for school. Eventually he and his mother had moved to Mississauga.
When Vicente was 16, he moved to Canada permanently to finish high school. After graduating, knowing that a career in policing was in the cards, Vicente enrolled in Sheridan College in Oakville, taking the Police Foundations program.
After completing the program, Vicente took a job in construction for a renovation company in Ontario. He did this, along with working for a security company for about two years. It was during this stint when he met the person who would eventually become his wife, Karen. Coincidently, Const. Karen Vicente is also with the Barrhead RCMP. She came to Barrhead about a year and a half ago, transferring from the Westlock Detachment to fill the role of student resource officer (SRO). The pair met while at Sheridan College when they were both enrolled in the Police Foundations program.
The couple, who were now married with a young daughter, decided to move to Nova Scotia to an acreage in a small community outside of Halifax. It was while they were living in Nova Scotia that Vicente decided to take the plunge and pursue his goal of a career in policing, applying to the RCMP. Six months later, after being given a six-week notice, Vicente found himself at the RCMP's training depot, starting in April 2009.
A few days after graduating from depot in October, he received his first posting in Yorkton, Sask.
After serving five and a half years as a general duty constable, Vicente moved to the general investigation section (GIS) as a plainclothes officer.
All totalled, he spent eight years in Yorkton, before transferring to Westlock as their new corporal.
"I enjoyed my time in Yorkton, it is a busy detachment and it was a great experience. For my last year and a half, I was in charge of the [GIS unit], but it was time for me to take the next step in my career, so when the posting in Westlock came up, I took the opportunity," Vicente said.
That was about four years ago.
"As a family, we really like the area. My wife and daughter are into horses and I like to hunt and fish, so it fits our lifestyle," he said. "Every few years, from a policing perspective, the RCMP likes us to move around, so when the position in Barrhead opened up, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. This will reset my clock. Hopefully, I will be here for many years to come."
Vicente said he was also attracted to the idea of being able to work with detachment commander Sgt. Bob Dodds.
"In my first few months in Westlock, we did not have a detachment commander and [Sgt. Dodds] was filled the role and I enjoyed working with him ... our familiarity will help make the transition as smooth as possible."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
