Come next month, it will be a year since the appointment of the St. Albert RCMP's interim officer in charge. With no exact timeline on when a permanent officer will be appointed, St. Albert's elected officials are frustrated by the lack of communication and the length of time this has taken.
The St. Albert RCMP's interim commanding officer, Staff Sgt. Dwayne Moore, took command of the detachment on an interim basis in September 2024, following the departure of Insp. Ryan Comaniuk.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron and previous chair of the policing committee Dr. Kristopher Wells were involved in Comaniuk's hiring process, a process she still hopes to be involved in whenever it comes time to hire a new commanding officer.
With almost a full year having passed since Moore's appointment, Heron said she doesn't know what's taking so long for there to be an update.
"I'm getting a little frustrated, to tell you the truth, with the length of time," Heron said. She added that although she can't recall specific details, she doesn't remember Comaniuk's hiring taking quite this long.
"I just want to get on with the process," she said, and added that the communication with the Alberta RCMP during the waiting period has been lacking.
"Unless I call them or send a letter, I don't hear from them," she said.
There are a couple routes the RCMP could take when looking at a new commanding officer. They could look at an internal promotion of an officer to the role of Inspector, like Moore. Or they could take an officer with previous experience from a different detachment who already possesses the rank of Inspector, something Coun. Ken MacKay, who is a member of the policing committee and retired police officer, called a 'lateral move.'
MacKay said typically the RCMP will select a few eligible candidates, who would then each be interviewed before the final choice was made.
Heron said her preference would be for St. Albert to have a commanding officer with previous experience running a detachment.
"It seems like St. Albert is always the training ground for younger, just emerging officers to get their experience. And I feel like we deserve more than just the training ground position. I think we want somebody with experience who knows some of the crime issues that we've got going on in St. Albert," she said.
"I believe that the community is getting to a point now – both from an authorized strength position but also just from some of the community demands – that rather than have a promotion into the position, I think there's a lot to have a lateral move into being our detachment commander," MacKay said.
She and MacKay both said the city has nothing against Moore and that St. Albert is happy with the RCMP's work and presence in the community.
"I wholeheartedly hope that Dwayne is one of the applicants that we interview, but I need to have an opportunity to see what else is out there, so I don't want them assuming that that's our choice until we've been given the choice," Heron said.
With the election on the horizon, Heron said she still hopes to have a permanent officer in charge hired before the end of her term.
"I'd like to see it wrapped up by this term. And not because I myself want to be involved in the decision making, although I would like to be. I feel like if we don't get it done by the end of October then you're onboarding a new mayor – whether it's a current city councillor or someone who's never been on council – there's a learning curve, and they're going to have their plate full," she said.
The Gazette reached out to the St. Albert RCMP detachment and the Alberta RCMP for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.
