Profile: Josh Curley

Despite the hardships that accompany becoming a police officer after graduation, Joshua Curley-Lanthier, an alumnus at the college, has worked his way through the majority of the testing stages and will soon have the job he always wanted.

The dream of joining the police force was not some sort of slow bloom for Curley. He woke up one morning in high school, and somehow his mind was set. His desires were confirmed when he hopped into a cruiser and took part in his first ride-along, where he witnessed the opportunity to help people firsthand.

Curley, 21, has formed strong ties within the Ottawa community and its surrounding areas.

“I enjoy building relationships with the clients,” said Curley about his current job at the High Support Program, a group home in Cumberland.

“I work with developmentally delayed, dual-diagnosed, high risk youth. That means they are either suicidal, self-harming or aggressive,” he added.

Curley is also a frontline worker at the Ottawa Mission. He helps people who are homeless, suffer with mental health issues, have suicidal tendencies, financial breakdowns and/or drug addictions. “My main duties include shelter security and some counselling,” he said.

He believes his work is furthering his career aspirations.

“I consider networking, building relationships and applying the skills I have learned to be the key success factors in becoming a police officer,” said Curley.

Since 2008, he has volunteered his time at the Bayshore Catholic School as a big brother figure with the Ottawa Police Service, where he teaches french and math to children with attendance issues and negative perceptions towards authority. He also lends a helping hand at events with the O.P.S. race and relations unit.

“He showed evidence that he knew policies and procedures of the law very well, and was very well police oriented,” said A/Sgt. Nathalie Perras of O.P.S. “Joshua was very open and flexible to learning new ways to continue to be a competitive applicant.”

“I’ve come to know Josh as a very approachable, personal and mature young professional with a passion for serving his community and upholding the rights of its peers,” said Rob Nettleton, former President of Algonquin’s Students’ Association.

He graduated from the two-year police foundations program with honours in 2010.

“I’ve already been able to apply the knowledge of all of my classes at one point or another, but the most useful ones were conflict management and criminal code and federal statutes,” he said.

He volunteered as a student leader for orientation week during the 2009 fall semester.

“Part of what made this event so successful was our student volunteers, like Josh” said Nettleton.

Curley considers his job in loss prevention, where he has worked since 2008, to be the most useful in terms of building his network, primarily because of its close ties with police services. “I met Joshua in spring of 2008 while attending a theft call at a grocery store where he worked as a Loss Prevention Officer,” said Cst. Renee Carter.

Certain workshops and certifications also proved helpful on his journey to becoming a police officer. Curley received a Certificate of Appreciation from the O.P.S. in 2009. He is also certified in American sign language, dealing with high risk youth, basic intervention techniques, immediate recall professional law enforcement, and use of force and open hand tactics. The Ontario Provincial Police awarded him the opportunity to attend the Eastern Police Experience, where he was chosen out of 31 candidates.

However, Curley’s pursuit of a law enforcement position has hit a few bumps in the road so far. After applying for O.P.S. and O.P.P., he was deferred by both in 2010.

“It was hard to swallow after putting all that work into it. But, good things come with time, dedication, commitment and more hard work,” he said. Support from family and peers kept Curley motivated and helped keep him on track.

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.

“Normally, I wouldn’t endorse the hiring of a police officer of somebody at this young age; however, I feel that Joshua is an exception. He is definitely mature well beyond his years, well grounded and has shown that he possesses the character required to excel in the role of a police officer,” said A/Sgt. Steven Malo.

As of today, Curley has passed his physical, aptitude, written communications, psychology and interview stages. He is now in O.P.P.’s auxiliary background-investigaion stage. This is the final stage.

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