Peter St.Denis
Transcript of Peter's Video:
Hi I’m Peter St. Denis, I’m a professor here at Mohawk College. I teach out of the Public Safety/Securities program, Brantford campus. Within that program there’s three facets, one is Advanced Police Studies, another one is Police Foundations and there’s the Law and Security component. In all three of those courses I teach Use of Force to the students there, and for Police Foundations I teach Police Powers I, which talks to arrest authorities and arrest procedures/police authorities. For Advanced Police Studies I teach search authorities and liability.
I’ve been with Mohawk College since 2005. During the time that I’ve been here I was given the opportunity to take a leave of absence. As I am currently a Major with the reserves, I was given the opportunity to go over to Afghanistan on operation Athena Task Force 308. I’ve been back since May of 2009, and I just finished a full semester cycle this past year. I enjoy the fact that I’m back and enjoying the work that I do.
I was with Peel Regional Police for 16 years prior to coming [to Mohawk], and during that time I did have the opportunity to work in the training bureau which I had a very big interest in. When I got the opportunity to get hired at Mohawk I took it. I think I have a lot to offer to the students within the Police Foundations, Law & Security and Advanced Police Studies programs because I do take a lot of my experiences and introduce them into the programs that I’m teaching. For myself, the feedback from the students is important. I get a sense of accomplishment when I hear that students have moved on to law enforcement, either being in Police Services, Corrections, CBSA (Canadian Border Service Agency) and also in Private Investigation. A lot of times they will come back and let me know that they have been successful and that it was what the professors at Mohawk have passed onto them that made it possible.
Another asset with that program, to me, is the fact that there are a number of ex-Police Officers teaching both the Advanced Police Studies and Police Foundations program. They have a lot of people who have worked for many years in the Private Security area who pass on their experience to the Law & Security program at the Brantford Campus.
Again, I’ve been here since 2005 and I intend to be here until I retire. Thank you.