Gain the skills and experience for a rewarding career in law enforcement and public safety with JIBC’s Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies. For more information, visit www.jibc.ca/bles
Sebastien Therrien’s pursuit of a career in policing led him to JIBC. Thanks to his JIBC degree, he’s now enrolled in graduate studies to further his education. (Story by Wanda Chow / Photo by Jimmy Jeong)
Sebastien Therrien’s pursuit of a career in policing led him to the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) and now his JIBC degree is helping him expand his career opportunities as he pursues a graduate degree.
Growing up in Quebec, Sebastien, now 27, always wanted to be a police officer, a career where he could make a difference while working directly with the public.
That determination was strengthened after he graduated high school and joined the Canadian Forces Army Reserves, while completing a diploma in Police Foundations at La Cité Collégiale in Ottawa. It was at La Cité where he learned of a new agreement between that school and JIBC, where he could apply his education towards completion of JIBC’s Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies (BLES) degree.
Sebastien says his JIBC education helped open his mind on many subjects, particularly the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, how they were treated and how that continues to impact that community today.
“In high school I cannot remember learning about that and it’s so important to learn about it. That’s what struck me, like wow, I’m 25, 26 years old and I’m just learning about this?”
Ramandeep Randhawa says his JIBC Law Enforcement Studies instructors went “above and beyond” in helping him achieve his career goals. (Story and photo by Wanda Chow)
Like many kids, Ramandeep Randhawa grew up wanting to be a police officer.
For much of his life, though, he was also overweight.
That has changed for the better, he says, with much thanks to his instructors at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC).
As a teenager, Ramandeep attended a youth cadet program and the New Westminster Police Department Student Police Academy which helped him confirm he wanted to work in law enforcement. He set about working towards his goal by spending two years studying criminology at a local university.
Then he learned about JIBC’s Law Enforcement Studies Diploma (LESD) program, and how it is specifically geared towards those interested in policing and other law enforcement careers.
When he started the LESD program over four years ago, he weighed 325 pounds. By the time he graduated with a Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies (BLES) four years later, he had lost 125 pounds.
His instructors put him on a simple diet plan and workout routine and kept him accountable.
“They went above and beyond,” Ramandeep said. “They actually care and want to see you be successful.”
JIBC’s Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies program helps recent-graduate Louise Lathey combine her passion for helping animals with her desire to make a difference in her community. (Story by Wanda Chow)
Louise Lathey always knew she wanted to make a difference. She always figured she would accomplish that through a front-line role in policing or paramedicine.
In preparation for that, she completed several programs at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), from the Emergency Medical Responder Certificate, and Bylaw Compliance, Enforcement and Investigative Skills course, to the Investigation & Enforcement Skills Certificate and Law Enforcement Studies Diploma (LESD).
Louise had applied for a policing job after her first year of LESD, but was told to reapply after gaining more experience in a related role. It was while searching for such a role that she tapped into her longtime love of animals. She landed a job at the BC SPCA as an on-call night emergency officer.
“This job was intense and incredibly rewarding. I responded to calls of sick or injured domestic and wild animals, and had to rescue and transport these animals to vet clinics, wildlife facilities or wherever else they needed to go. Thanks to this position I learned that skunks love peanut butter and raccoons are not as cute as they look.”
She began to explore the field of animal law. She transitioned into the BC SPCA’s cruelty investigations department, became a Special Provincial Constable doing cruelty investigations, worked in the Vancouver SPCA animal shelter as an animal care attendant, and had a chance to work in shelter management.
“At this point I think I had taken a break from school as I was sort of re-evaluating my career path. This is when I started realizing that the law enforcement world was bigger than just policing.”
Louise returned to JIBC to finish the LESD program and continued her studies to complete the Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies (BLES). read more
Every day all around the world, women and women-identified people act bravely, face danger, put others’ needs before their own, create life-saving innovations, and bring about remarkable and meaningful change. International Women’s Day is our opportunity to raise awareness, honour and celebrate these women who we look up to as the heroes in our lives.
Our JIBC Law Enforcement Studies students have launched a month-long social media challenge to encourage people of all ages and genders to recognize and acknowledge the women leaders, first responders, caregivers, elders, visionaries, artists, mothers, activists, friends and social justice champions who have influenced their lives. read more
Diana Hon joined students in enjoying the Irish countryside while on a JIBC exchange to the Waterford Institute of Technology in 2013. Being a foreigner in Ireland helped her relate to newcomers she encounters in her current job as a police officer in Greater Vancouver. (Story by Wanda Chow)
Diana Hon knows a thing or two about being a stranger in a strange land.
But having grown up Asian in a major Canadian city, it’s not like she wasn’t used to the diversity. Rather, for Hon, a graduate of the Law Enforcement Studies Diploma (LESD) program at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), her eye-opening moments of cultural differences came while participating in a JIBC foreign exchange program. In Ireland.
“The most difficult part for me was understanding the accent because the Irish accent is so thick over there,” she said with a laugh of her time studying at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) in the fall of 2013. “They’d say ‘the pub’ but I would hear ‘the Pope.’ ”
Add to that the fact that the only other Asian people she met were other international students at her WIT student residence, and Hon definitely felt far from home.
Since January 2013, 10 JIBC LESD students have spent their last semester on an academic exchange at WIT in Ireland. The program helps students gain an international perspective of law enforcement and learn about the different opportunities and challenges faced by those working in law enforcement in other parts of the world. The JIBC Foundation, the Peter and Joanne Brown Foundation and the Irving K. Barber British Columbia Scholarship Society, administered by the Victoria Foundation, generously provide financial support for students participating in this unique experience.
Compassion and empathy were on the menu recently as students from the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) volunteered at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.
More than 100 students from the Law Enforcement Studies Diploma and Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies programs put in three-hour shifts at a food bank depot in East Vancouver.
The volunteer stints are components of the first-year course, Law Enforcement in a Diverse Society, and the fourth-year course, Multiculturalism, Conflict and Social Justice, both taught by Law Enforcement Studies instructor Dr. Jessica Motherwell, a diversity expert.
The students spent their time opening bags of food donations, sorting them, discarding unusable items, and repackaging the donated food into bags for clients.
“One of the signature ways to communicate our culture is through food,” said Motherwell.
Charles Payette, Sabastien Therrien, and Sabastien Houle are among graduates from Ontario’s largest French-language college completing their Bachelor’s degree at JIBC (Photo & story by Richard Chu)
Charles Payette decided to move across the country to complete JIBC’s Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies (BLES) program. He wasn’t the only one.
Last fall, four graduates from Ontario’s largest French-language college, La Cité collégiale, moved to New Westminster from their hometowns in Quebec to continue their education at JIBC. They first heard about the BLES program from their Dean at La Cité when JIBC and La Cité signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand educational opportunities for students. As graduates of La Cité’s applied Police Foundations Diploma (Techniques des Services Policiers), each student was interested in continuing their education with a unique program that would help them stand out in the highly competitive law enforcement recruitment process.
“A lot of students go into criminology,” said Charles. “But this is different. Rather than look like all the other police applicants, I can say I have a degree from the Justice Institute of British Columbia in law enforcement studies. It’s not something a lot of other applicants will have.”
JIBC’s Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies Program is helping students like Ramandeep realize their professional goals (Photo & story by Richard Chu)
The Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies (BLES) program has served as a rewarding stepping stone to meaningful careers in public safety.
Ramandeep Randhawa is a fourth-year BLES student at the JIBC New Westminster Campus, who currently serves as a Bylaw Enforcement Officer for the City of North Vancouver and the City of New Westminster. He has also been hired by the Vancouver Police Department as a Special Municipal Constable.
“I’m extremely satisfied to have continued my education and pursue a bachelor’s degree,” said Ramandeep, who began his post-secondary education at JIBC by completing the Law Enforcement Studies Diploma. read more
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