THE LOCAL RCMP detachment may no longer have an inspector in charge of its everyday functions.
Thanks to a shift in the police force’s internal workings, the number of officers now reporting to the office in charge of the detachment has fallen to 49, below the 55-officer level at which point an inspector would normally be required.
And that in turn has prompted a review by the RCMP, says Constable Angela Rabut.
She termed the internal reorganization one of regionalization in which some officers from specialized sections such as traffic and forensics no longer report to the officer in charge here.
An inspector has been in charge of the detachment here for at least 30 years and the prospect of losing an officer of that rank has worried city council enough it has written to the police force.
“Given the growth that the City of Terrace is currently experiencing and our placement in the top 10 of the Crime Severity Index, losing the high-level oversight of an inspector as the officer in charge at the detachment would be detrimental to the community,” city administrator Heather Avison wrote in a memo to council last month which then resulted in the letter being sent.
The last inspector here, Inspector Dana Hart, retired earlier this year, a factor that helped prompt the review.
Staff Sergeant Syd Lecky, who was the second in command, is now in temporary charge of the detachment.
Deputy mayor Stacey Tyers said that the city believes the inspector position is important considering how busy the detachment is.
“It is just something that they look at every time an inspector steps down so we just want to make sure that up front we’re letting them know we don’t want to do that,” she said.
There’s no date set for when the review is to be completed.
At one time the detachment here even housed a regional command and communications centre but that function was shifted to Prince George years ago.
In addition to forensics officers and ones on traffic or highway patrol duty, the detachment has officers who investigate major crimes.
As is the case with many detachments in B.C., the Terrace RCMP detachment is made up of officers considered municipal and rural when it comes to financing detachment activities, but in everyday work, there are no geographical distinctions and officers attend calls when and where required.
