POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 41 PANS in the community New Glasgow Regional Police Service By Jackie Jardine As originally published Jan 20/21, The Advocate Living her dream and making history … and shattering the glass ceiling Sgt. Claire Corkum-Timmons at work with the New Glasgow Regional Police Service. (Jardine photo) Claire Corkum-Timmons knew what she wanted to do with her life from a very early age growing up in Chester. But she didn’t know she’d make history doing it. The police woman, who is in her 20th year of policing, has been promoted to sergeant, making her the first female police sergeant on the New Glasgow Regional Police force and in Pictou County. In fact, she also made history in 2018 when she was promoted to rank of corporal - the first female officer with NGRP to be promoted to that rank. The road to policing was sometimes long and arduous for the police woman. “When I graduated high school I wasn’t old enough to get into the police academy - you had to be 19 at that point with a year of post-secondary education. I was 18.” When she was old enough she entered the Atlantic Police Academy, graduating in May 2000, and worked for a summer in Stellarton, where she was the first female officer employed there. She moved to New Glasgow Regional Police Department in 2011. “I applied for police academy and the RCMP at the same time. I had that dreamof being a Mountie,”Corkum-Timmons smiles. She got into the police academy first, then after graduation went into the RCMP. Near the end of RCMP training, there was little to no hope of working back East any time soon, so she returned home to Nova Scotia. When she re-located back to Pictou County there were no policing jobs available, so she worked in non-policing - at a local nursing home in environmental services for minimum wage. “I stayed at a bed and breakfast in Stellarton, Rena and Jim MacDonald’s.”Corkum-Timmons appreciates her time there. “(Rena) knew that I was struggling and she would leave food out on the counter for me because she knew I couldn’t afford to buy food. I was living off of frozen vegetables at $6 an hour.” She acknowledges, “It was a struggle.” She’s come a long way - from police training to making minimum wage in a nursing home to making history. Corkum-Timmons was able to get back into policing after about six months of struggling. Trenton Police Service was her first full-time policing gig; she was hired by former chief Bob White (now deceased). At that time, she was the first female officer on the Trenton force. In 2011, Trenton and New Glasgow joined forces to become New Glasgow Regional Police and Corkum-Timmons is still there. She joined two other female officers; today there are seven women on the force. Corkum-Timmons is quite happy in her new role and has no plans to change. continued
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