Two new officers have been approved for the Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP detachment.
Excellent news, indeed, for newly appointed detachment commander, Insp. Jim McNamara.
When the bodies will get here, however, remains to be determined.
“I can’t give you a timeline when we’ll have the two bodies in place,” said McNamara. “We have more than 50 bodies on-site now. My goal and commitment to the city is to get the new boots on the ground as soon as we can.”
The two new officers will make a difference but McNamara vows his detachment will be providing the same top level of service as in the past.
A community stakeholders meeting is held every March with RCMP to determine the detachment’s top priorities for the year.
There was no change in 2015 with road safety, crime reduction and communications remaining as the top three prirorities.
“Everything is just as important as the other and sometimes we have to change our focus on the priorities throughout the year, based on what’s happening,” said McNamara, citing 2014’s rash of unsolved arsons as an example.
A lot of resources and time went into those investigations.
“We had to change our focus from other crime reduction activities,” he said.
Downtown Vernon remains a detachment focus for McNamara, who arrived in Vernon in 2010 as the operations officer.
In October 2015, McNamara was promoted to inspector, replacing his good friend and colleague Reg Burgess, who retired.
While he doesn’t expect to make drastic changes at the detachement, McNamara will be looking at the operations to make sure the detachement is being as effective and efficient as can be.
“I like to think of myself as an inclusive leader,” he said when asked about his leadership style. “I work closely with the senior management team on decisions.
“I have high expectations of my members in terms of the work they do. I will make sure we are providing service to the community, and I like to think all of our members are doing the best they can to provide that service.”
Originally from Edmonton, McNamara got his first taste of RCMP while studying sociology at the University of Alberta.
McNamara, who graduated with a bachelor of arts degree, majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology, was an RCMP summer student in 1982 in Evansburg, a town of 1,200 an hour west of Edmonton.
“I did general duties, rode around with regular members and it was a great experience,” he said. I”ve always said it’s probably been the best four months of my RCMP career. It certainly influenced me joining the force (which he did in 1985).”