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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
She deals with the swearing, the name-calling and the banging on the cell doors by prisoners and intoxicated people at the RCMP detachment from 12 a.m. until 8 a.m. five days a week.

Rita Kathleen Graham was presented with the Commissionaires Long Service Award at the RCMP G Division awards ceremony Tuesday for her work as a night guard in RCMP cells for more than 13 years. - Katherine Hudson/NNSL photo

And this 72-year-old woman really likes the job.

Rita Kathleen Graham received the Commissionaires Long Service Award on Tuesday afternoon for her dedication to her job with the RCMP for the past 13 years.

She started as a casual employee with the RCMP in December 1999 and, 10 days later, she was a permanent employee and took on the midnight shift.

"I chose that. It fits good for me. I'm a bit of a night owl and I like to be home during the day," said Graham.

She said with the freedom of the day, she can walk her dog, do her banking, watch television and go to the doctor. Then she gets the call at 11 p.m. and heads to work in her truck at 11:30 p.m. At 8 a.m., when her shift is done, she heads home to have some breakfast and sleeps until the early afternoon.

"I love it when I go home in the morning and everyone is walking to work and I've already done my shift," she chuckled.

As a guard working in the basement of the Yellowknife RCMP detachment, Graham records who comes in as a prisoner, processes the paperwork, tells the police where to put them and documents what personal belongings the prisoner has with them when they come in. She locks the belongings away during their stay in the light green, cement cells.

"I watch them all night and guard them and make sure they're safe and look after their needs or their wants. And sometimes they don't want anything but they just want to knock on the door all night," she said.

"It's a good job sort of retirement, wind-down, kind of job, even though it carries a lot of responsibility. The lives of the people I'm looking after depend on me. So I have to make sure that everybody is OK and that's the top thing."

She watches the prisoners on video monitors at her desk, but she is only metres away from the two parallel rows of cells with women on one side, men on the other.

An RCMP officer stops in every four hours to ensure everything is going smoothly. Guards are not permitted to open the cell doors unless there is an emergency and they cannot contact an officer.

"It is not a job for everybody because you get called a lot of names," said Graham, who said she's seen "scraps" between prisoners but nothing major during her time guarding the cells.

She's done the nine-to-five jobs, working in both the federal and territorial governments, selling advertising for the newspaper, for hotels and with the YWCA.

Yet, after 13 years of being the night guard, Graham is there to stay.

"I work with a bunch of great people and so it's always a good thing when I come to work. I never regret having to come to work, I like coming to work," she said.

"It's a fun job. There's some nights that are quite stressful. But on the whole, it's pretty good. I'm going to stay as long as I feel OK and well enough to do a proper job, that I'm not going to jeopardize anybody and I feel good. Why not? This day and age, you can't survive on just a pension, you have to supplement. I have my own trailer by myself. It costs money."

Staff Sgt. Brad Kaeding said Graham is one of "three dependable guards who put up with a lot of stuff in the backroom." On the weekend shift, there are two guards scheduled and an additional guard is called in during the week if there are more than 12 prisoners in cells.

"It's not the best of working conditions Š You're likely to be sworn at on a daily basis and the noise level is usually pretty high because intoxicated people are banging on the cells and shouting at them and calling them names," said Kaeding.

"For somebody to be able to put up with that kind of abuse and working conditions is something that speaks very well to her character, her personality. We're extremely grateful that there is somebody who willingly does that on a regular and consistent basis. She's definitely going to be hard to replace if and when she retires. We're hoping it's not any time soon."

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