Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

JACKET AND PANTS, DESERT CAMOUFLAGE, “TACTICAL”

Date Range From

2006

Date Range To

2010

Materials

CANVAS, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

2

Length

76.5

Width

52

Description

.A – LONG SLEEVED, COLLARED CANVAS JACKET IN IRREGULAR PATTERN IN SHADES OF BROWN, WITH GREY AND BLACK SPOTS. BUTTON CLOSURE DOWN FRONT. CHEST AND HIP POCKETS ON BOTH SIDES. BLACK EMBROIDERED PATCHES ON BOTH SHOULDERS DEPICT A CROWNED CREST IN GREY WITH TEXT READING “LETHBRIDGE REGIONAL POLICE” AND “POLICE LETHBRIDGE” ABOVE A CANADIAN FLAG. PATCH ABOVE LEFT CHEST POCKET READS “TACTICAL”. TAG AT INNER COLLAR READS “LARGE – REGULAR” AND LISTS SIZE SPECIFICATIONS. THIS NUMBER “8048” IS WRITTEN BENEATH TAG IN PERMANENT MARKER. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 76.5 X 52 .B – CANVAS PANTS IN IRREGULAR PATTERN IN SHADES OF BROWN, WITH GREY AND BLACK SPOTS. BUTTON FLU CLOSURE WITH BUCKLED STRAPS ALONG WAISTBAND. DRAWSTRINGS AT ANKLES. HIP, SEAT, AND THIGH POCKETS. TAG AT INNER WAISTBAND READS “LARGE – REGULAR” AND LISTS SIZE SPECIFICATIONS. THE NUMBER “8048” IS WRITTEN INSIDE UNDER WAISTBAND IN PERMANENT MARKER. GENERAL WEAR THROUGHOUT, ESPECIALLY AT KNEES. STAINS OF PINK INK ALONG OUTER FLY. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 108 X 48

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

History

THIS DESERT CAMOUFLAGE (ALSO KNOWN AS “CHOCOLATE CHIP” PATTERN) UNIFORM WAS WORN BY SERGEANT GEORGE CARSCADDEN DURING HIS SERVICE WITH THE LETHBRIDGE REGIONAL POLICE TACTICAL UNIT. CARSCADDEN JOINED THE LETHBRIDGE POLICE IN 1997, AFTER WORKING WITH THE PEEL REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA FROM 1988 TO 1997. DURING HIS CAREER IN PEEL, CARSCADDEN RECEIVED SPECIAL TRAINING, INCLUDING COMPLETING THE FBI’S OBSERVER/SNIPER COURSE, WHICH INFORMED HIS SERVICE WITH THE TACTICAL UNIT IN LETHBRIDGE FROM 1999 TO 2012. CARSCADDEN DESCRIBED HIS USE OF THIS UNIFORM AS SUCH: “THERE WERE A COUPLE OF CALLS WHERE I’VE WORN THAT UNIFORM… WHEN WE HAD BLACK, AND THAT WAS THE ONLY UNIFORM WE HAD, IN DAYTIME OPERATIONS YOU COULD SEE US LIKE FLIES IN SOUP. HAVING THIS TYPE OF UNIFORM MADE US MORE CONCEALABLE, AND THAT HELPS OUT IN DIFFERENT PLACES. THERE’S LOTS OF THINGS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY WHERE THIS WOULD BLEND IN, IN THE DAYTIME… OUR TERRAIN IS MORE SANDY, A MORE DESERT-STYLE ENVIRONMENT. WE DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TALL TREES. WE DON’T NEED TO HAVE URBAN CAMO. WE RAN A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLOTHING THAT WE WERE COMPARING, AND THIS WAS THE BEST FOR WHAT OUR BACKGROUND WAS… IT’S ALL ABOUT IF WE CAN GET IN POSITION AND NOT BE EASILY OBSERVED. THAT PUTS YOURSELF AT LESS OF A RISK, AND THAT’S IMPORTANT FOR THE OFFICERS.” ON JULY 28, 2015 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED SGT. CARSCADDEN ABOUT HIS SERVICE WITH THE LRPS TACTICAL UNIT. CARSCADDEN SAID: “FIRST OF ALL, I JUST WENT AS A QUARRY… ALL DIFFERENT SPECIALTY UNITS THAT HAVE SOME KIND OF TACTICAL SCENARIO LIKE TO HAVE QUARRIES TO [HELP TRAIN THEM] TO DO THEIR JOB BETTER, SO I THOUGHT ‘I’LL GO WORK AS A QUARRY TO SHOW THEM I’M INTERESTED’. A QUARRY IS GENERALLY A BAD GUY – YOU PRETEND YOU’RE HIDING, OR MOVING OR YELLING OR RUNNING AWAY AND TRYING TO EVADE THEM, AND THEY ARE TRYING TO CAPTURE YOU… IT TOOK A COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH… IN THE MOVEMENT OF THE TEAM THAT THERE WERE [POSITIONS OPEN]… THERE IS A PHYSICAL, AND INTERVIEW, SOME TESTS… I WENT THROUGH AND STUDIED, AND DID THE BEST THAT I COULD… MAKING SURE YOU ARE IN GOOD PHYSICAL SHAPE BECAUSE YOU ARE CARRYING AN EXTRA 50 POUNDS OF GEAR… THAT’S JUST THE GEAR THAT YOU ARE CARRYING ON YOURSELF, NOT A RAM OR DIFFERENT TYPE OF EQUIPMENT THAT YOU MIGHT BE MOVING INTO PLACE FOR DIFFERENT TACTICS… I WAS AROUND 35 [YEARS OLD]. I WAS AN OLDER GUY APPLYING FOR THIS POSITION, BUT I WAS IN GOOD SHAPE AND HAD SOME GOOD EXPERIENCES THAT MADE ME COMPETITIVE, SO I DON’T THINK YOUR AGE TAKES YOU OUT OF THE EQUATION IF YOU ARE REALLY DETERMINED.” CARSCADDEN CONTINUED: “I’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT POSITIONS WITHIN [THE TACTICAL] UNIT… I STARTED OFF AS AN ASSAULTER… THE PERSON WHO CARRIES ALL THE GEAR, SO YOU’RE IN THE BACK… THE LAST PERSON THAT COMES IN. IT’S A GOOD POSITION TO START OFF WITH. IT MAKES IT SAFER FOR WHEN YOU’RE GOING INTO THESE HIGH-RISK ENVIRONMENTS… FROM THERE I WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE OBSERVER, THEN A SNIPER, THEN FROM THERE… A BREECHER. SO YOU ARE BREECHING DOORS AND WINDOWS. [THEN] I WENT TO THE FRONT OF THE TACTICAL LINE-UP, WHICH IS THE SCOUT… THEN THE LAST SIX YEARS THAT I WAS ON THE TACTICAL TEAM, I WAS THE PERSON IN CHARGE, THE TEAM LEADER… AND I WAS RUNNING OPERATIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR CANINE UNIT AND OUR EXPLOSIVES DISPOSAL UNIT… THE TRAINING IS REALLY GOOD. [THE TEAM] TRAINS EVERY TWO WEEKS, AND DO LOTS OF MOVEMENTS AND SHOOTING AND TACTICS. IT’S A PERISHABLE SKILL, THAT IF YOU DON’T REPEAT AND PRACTICE IT ALL THE TIME, IT DIMINISHES… PRACTICE IS IMPORTANT. IT ALLOWS YOU TO BE BETTER AT YOUR GAME... YOU NEED TO HAVE A MINDSET [OF] BEING NOT ONLY PHYSICALLY TOUGH, BUT MENTALLY TOUGH, WHEN YOU DEAL WITH THINGS IN A HIGH-RISK ENVIRONMENT… YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF DRIVE TO GET YOU THROUGH THINGS.” CARSCADDEN CONCLUDED: “ONE OF THE THINGS I’M PROUD OF ON THE TACTICAL SIDE IS THAT I WAS THE OFFICER WHO WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN BRINGING LESS LETHAL CAPABILITY TO THE TEAM… [WE] MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN SAVING SOMEBODY’S LIFE. WE HELP THEM THROUGH THAT TIME OF NEED… WE HAVE ESTABLISHED WHERE, IN THE PAST IF THAT PERSON COULD HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN SHOT AND INJURED, IF NOT FATALLY SHOT, THAT PERSON NOW CAN BE DEALT WITH A LESS LETHAL MEANS… WE ARE ABLE TO RESTRAIN, ARREST, WITH THESE LESS LETHAL CAPABILITIES. THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE FOR THEM… THE EXPERIENCES THAT I HAD IN PEEL [SHOWED ME LESS LETHAL CAPABILITIES] IN OPERATION AND HOW IT WORKED… THEY WERE ONE OF THE FIRST SERVICES IN CANADA TO HAVE THE RUBBER BULLET… WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT TACTICS AND HOW YOU CAN DO IT BETTER, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I RECOGNIZED, THAT [LETHBRIDGE] COULD BRING THIS ON. IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR OUR TEAM AND OUR COMMUNITY: AS OPPOSED TO SHOOTING SOMEBODY AND STOPPING THEM THAT WAY, WE COULD USE THE [RUBBER BULLET] OR BEANBAG ROUND AND THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP STOP THESE PEOPLE [BUT] SAVE THEIR LIVES… IT REALLY OPENS PEOPLE’S EYES WHEN THEY SEE THAT THERE’S A LOT OF OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO PUT IN PLACE FOR DIFFERENT TACTICS. AND WHEN PEOPLE SEE THERE’S ANOTHER WAY OF DOING BUSINESS, IT’S HELPFUL FOR US TO PROGRESS AND PUSH FORWARD… THESE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT ARE HERE TO ALLOW US TO KEEP THINGS CONTROLLED AND TO MAKE US DO OUR JOB BETTER… I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE INVOLVED WITH A VERY SPECIALIZED UNIT AND I’M VERY PROUD OF IT.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT.

Catalogue Number

P20100050005

Acquisition Date

2010-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail