Meet Corporal Jill Swann, who leads a crisis negotiation team on Vancouver Island. Crisis negotiators work as part of the RCMP’s Critical Incident Program, under an incident commander and alongside an Emergency Response Team (ERT).

Cpl. Swann majored in fine arts in university, a skill set that the RCMP originally tapped into by having her draw sketches to assist witnesses and victims with visual descriptions of assailants. From there, she trained in areas such as arson investigation, interviewing assault victims and computer triaging, before settling into her specialty as a crisis negotiator. No two days are the same for Cpl. Swann, given that a crisis team can rarely foresee what kind of situation they’re about to respond to. The most rewarding part of her role is when she’s able to use the negotiation and coordination tactics she’s learned to eventually de-escalate a serious situation and give those involved the help that they need.

This is the first video in NPF’s ongoing specialist job series, aimed at highlighting the wide variety of roles that RCMP Members hold and how they contribute to safer and more liveable communities.