Multilingual back patches headed for the West Shore RCMP

West Shore RCMP uniforms will look slightly different in the coming weeks.

Traditionally, the issued back patch worn by frontline officers says POLICE, and while this covers both English and French, one Mountie felt as though something was missing.

After being assigned to the West Shore RCMP’s Indigenous Policing Services Unit, Constable Cole Brewer, a member of the Okanagan Nation and Similkameen Indian Band had a grand idea.

After reaching out to the Songhees Nation Language Department, Cst. Brewer wanted to incorporate the translation of POLICE in the Lekwungen language on the RCMP’s unit’s back patch.

He was able to get in contact with Joseph Seward, who works in the Language Department, and they collaborated to create a multilingual reflective back patch that would represent both languages.

The translation for police in the Lekwungen language is qəq̓élʔs, the phonetic pronunciation is “Kuh-Kails”.

“By wearing these patches we are recognizing the official languages of Canada and acknowledging the official language of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations within whose traditional territories we work,” explained Cst. Brewer.

While this project originated from a community policing environment, it has been embraced throughout the West Shore RCMP Detachment and will be rolled out to all members of the department.

“While our uniforms are designed to be consistent, we feel this is an important part of informed policing which is in line with our efforts being made towards meaningful reconciliation with our Indigenous communities,” says Superintendent Todd Preston, Officer in Charge of the West Shore RCMP Detachment.