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Scuba diving is generally associated with expensive resorts, clear waters, white beaches, and coral reef. However, there is a less recreational side of diving that some members of the RCMP are very familiar with.

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Corporal Mario Dery, RCMP Diver

Mario Dery has been diving professionally and recreationally for 24 years, and has brought his experience and skills to the RCMP J Division Dive Team for the past 15 years.

"Diving was something I always enjoyed, and so when I had the chance to bring my recreational hobby into my job it was perfect," he says. Mario joined the RCMP in 1986, but prior to this was a military diver. He joined the J Division Dive Team in 1993.

There are seven officers throughout the province who are part of the specialty dive team, however, there is room for ten.

"We normally have around ten members on the team but there have been some retirements, so we are recruiting more members right now," explains Mario. "The dive team is a specialty unit of the RCMP and all of our members work day-jobs with the force.

"All of the work we do with the diving is above and beyond our day jobs. We are on call 24/7, and are deployed when a diving circumstance comes up."

In order to become a member of the dive team an officer must have regular dive training.

"This is the type of training anyone can get from a scuba school," says Mario. The second step in becoming part of the team is to undergo a four week training program in British Columbia.

After these two steps are completed, and passed, you are certified as a dive member. RCMP divers are required to complete yearly training to keep up-to-date with their skills and training.

"Throughout the year we have training courses and a total of 24 days of scenario practice and testing that each member must go through," adds Mario.

The dive members are there to assist police officers when they go out on water during investigations, boat searches, and raids.

"Our main purpose is to assist officers during water duties and to retrieve weapons, criminal evidence, and stolen property from bodies of water," Mario explains, adding that the J Division Dive Team is unique because not many provinces have a dive team, which requires them to hire outside divers when the specialty is needed.

The dive team averages 20 calls a year, and Mario says that the work he does is extremely rewarding.

"It is most rewarding when we retrieve what we were sent in to find," he says. "Sometimes we work very long days because we are on-call.

"There have been times when I have worked all day patrolling and then get a call that requires many additional hours of work, but it's all worth it."

"In police work there is a lot of unpredictability, so we learn to work in all conditions," he adds.

"Diving has a lot of technicalities, and so working for the force as a member of the dive team is challenging and yet exciting too. It is an interesting aspect of the RCMP that many people don't know very much about."