Teen's actions catch attention of RCMP
Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 07/01) - Mitchell Shae is the ideal RCMP recruit: hard working, helpful and honest.
Still three years away from joining the force, Shae, who turns 15 this month, toured the Yellowknife detachment Sunday as a reward for handing over $140 he found in a snowbank.
The crumpled bills were discovered near the bowling alley before Christmas. Const. Jennifer Myers called the teen's actions admirable.
"It's unusual, especially for someone his age, to return money. The RCMP will be lucky to have him some day," she said.
Shae met Myers when he handed the money to police in December.
When the constable realized Shae's dream of becoming a police officer, she offered him a tour.
"He's a fine young man. He showed a lot of interest," Myers said.
The first thing Shae did after the two-hour tour, which included police picking him up and dropping him off at home, was lie down.
"Driving around was the best part," the soft spoken cadet said.
"It was fun. Being a police officer fascinates me."
A strip of his own souvenir fingerprints will be stored in a special book at home.
His father Angus and stepmother Modena Spears are proud, but not surprised by, Shae's honesty.
"We talked about how it could have been someone's Christmas money. He's learning about responsibility," Spears said.
She's pleased that a young man who was running with a "bad crowd" a few years ago has such admirable and focused career aspirations.
"Here's a First Nations kid, from a settlement who went through big changes when he moved to Yellowknife to be with us," Spears said.
The pre-Christmas windfall sat unclaimed in police custody for 60 days.
As per police protocol, the $140 goes back to Shae since no one claimed it within two months.
Shae will put the money toward a flight to Fort Good Hope this summer.
