After 36 years with the RCMP and 18 years in Squamish, Const. Dave Ritchie has never been shot. No wonder he became the media liaison.
As recently retired Dave Ritchie leans back in his chair only two weeks after retiring, he still looks like the officer he was for 36 years.
"When I joined, it wasn't something I aspired or dreamed of doing,' he said. "But once I got into it, it became a career and a passion for me.
"I was very proud to wear the uniform and help people and do all you can to resolve a community's issues."
But going back to the days before he donned the uniform, he admits he didn't always follow, let alone administer, the law.
"Growing up in Campbell River, I was doing lots of things my mother didn't approve of, not really having any interest in joining the force at that time," he said. "But they were doing a recruiting drive then and eventually they got to me."
Ritchie worked in a tire shop where he serviced the police vehicles and after a while the officers became his acquaintances, and even friends.
"I got to know the members quite well," he said. "They came and told me I should join the force and so I did apply and was interviewed and accepted and pretty soon I found myself in cold Regina going to boot camp."
Ritchie said he hated the six months he spent in boot camp.
"We were up every morning at 6:30 a.m. for an inspection of your bed and it had to be ironed and all your stuff polished and taken apart and put back together," he said. "Just a lot of stuff to make us put up with stuff."
He said despite his distaste for boot camp at the time, looking back it was really good for him discipline-wise.
After training, Ritchie was asked to choose three locations he would like to work in Canada. He chose all three on the East Coast so he could explore more of Canada but he ended up in Nanaimo.
"Turns out it was obviously for the best because shortly afterwards, I was transferred to Port Hardy before the highway was through and it was an isolated post," he said.
That's where Ritchie met his wife, who was a nurse and still is both a nurse and his wife.
"I blame that on the hospital being the only place for coffee after eight o' clock at night," Ritchie said, laughing.
They married in Port Hardy shortly before moving to Kelowna, where they had four children.
He was transferred to Squamish in 1992 and, except for a short stint in North Vancouver, he has worked in Squamish and enjoyed life here ever since.
"I've enjoyed every moment of my 36 years on the force," he said, although he admits he's seen some things that will haunt him forever.
"I worked as a collision analyst on the highway and recorded and attended all the accidents here, on the Sunshine Coast, and the Lower Mainland," said Ritchie.
"Going to all those serious accidents does start to work on you a bit."
He said although he's happy to retire, it's hard to leave some cases unresolved.
In his case there are two that stand out in his mind - Jodi Hendrickson going missing and recently, hiker Tyler Wright disappearing without a trace despite a massive collaboration of search and rescue teams from across the province.
"I was certainly hoping that we would have some resolve for the Hendrickson family since I've been involved in it since she went and disappeared," he said. "As the years go on it's terrible to see what it does to the family, with no closure, so I would have liked to be able to give them some closure.
"They have accepted the fact that Jodi's probably met with some foul play and the person or persons responsible are living with that as well."
Ritchie said the force has changed a lot over the years.
"Back when I started there wasn't back-up, or emergency cell phones or any of that," he said. "If you were chasing someone and you caught them, it was just the two of you out in the middle of wherever you happened to be."
He started one year after women were allowed to join the force, and before the Young Offender's Act and methods of communication taken for granted today even existed.
"A year prior to me coming in was the acceptance of females and that has developed a long ways," he said. "When I got in, a lot of the older officers still didn't accept the female members, so I'm glad to see the huge improvement in that."
He said there are all sorts of changes officers need to be aware of - more laws, more rights and more stringent rules.
"When I joined, a search warrant would probably be a three- or four-page document whereas now it would be 40 or 50 pages to apply," he said.
Ritchie said he's enjoying what still feels like an extended vacation.
"I'm not planning any exotic trips right away," he said. "I might get involved with some volunteer work but I've got lots of hobbies and lots of family so I will just enjoy it.
"I just have to realize I'm not just on a two-week holiday. I don't have to go back."
