An important milestone in the history of policing in this province was marked over the weekend: The RCMP celebrated 70 years in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Retired RCMP Staff Sergeant George Noseworthy served for 36 years with the force.
He was born and raised in St. John’s and spent the majority of his career in this province.
Reflecting on his career, Noseworthy says, “I couldn’t have chosen anything better for me” and that he loved every second of it.
One story he says sticks out in his mind was a mental health issue on the Northern Peninsula.
The night prior, he had taken a man into custody and brought him to the hospital in St. Anthony. After the man was discharged, a scary situation unfolded. The man got in a van and sped down the Northern Peninsula at 200 km/h.
Noseworthy, who was in Corner Brook, heard about the situation over his radio while they were not in uniform and in an unmarked car. Noseworthy’s partner in the vehicle asked, “what can we do? We can’t do anything with this,” to which he replied “I don’t know, but we’ve got to go see.”
Police cornered the man on top of a hill on the Northern Peninsula Highway. When the officers got there Noseworthy jumped into action. The man was running towards the officers who had stopped him. He yelled the suspect’s name, and for the next 45 minutes, he proceeded to talk the man down.
He says it was through a mental health police liason team the RCMP established on the Northern Peninsula where he learned those skills, and credits it with saving that man’s life.
