Kelly A. Power was 10 minutes into her first shift as a Surrey RCMP officer when she was called to a potentially violent confrontation involving a man who appeared to be mentally ill.

Because of legal concerns, all she can say about the incident is that the stand-off ended with no serious injuries.

And when it was all over, one of the more experienced officers turned to the rookie and said, "welcome to Surrey."

Const. Power had just graduated from basic training at the RCMP “Depot” Division in Regina.

For someone who grew up in a small community in Newfoundland and Labrador, working in a city the size of Surrey has been a sometimes breathtaking experience, the 45-year-old Power says.

There is just more of everything to do in the largest RCMP detachment in Canada.

And it all happens a lot faster, says Francis Desormeaux, another recent recruit to the force.

At Depot, officers are trained to come back after each incident they attend and file a case report.

That works just fine in a small community but not in a major municipality where officers often respond to back-to-back calls.

Paperwork sometimes has to wait.

Desormeaux says his introduction to post-Depot policing wasn't quite as dramatic as Power's.

He says he didn't have his first dramatic confrontation until he was near the end of his first day, a domestic dispute call that also ended without injury.

The 23-year-old Desormeaux is from Victoria.

The two are among 24 newly minted Mounties who completed an intensive two weeks of additional of training on Friday.

The day-long sessions for all new hires cover every aspect of policing in Surrey, from graffiti prevention to forensics, child abuse investigation and even dealing with reporters.

Before she settled on policing as a career, Power worked as a counsellor at a homeless shelter, and also as a youth corrections counsellor.

She hopes eventually to work in the child abuse section.

Desormeaux has worked as a loss prevention investigator and would like to to work in the drug section.

The Surrey RCMP detachment has 615 members and a support staff of more than 200 municipal employees, making it the second largest municipal police force in the province.

dferguson@surreyleader.com