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RCMP detachment soon to be up to full strength

The RCMP detachment in Hay River will soon be at full strength, including with the filling of two new positions added earlier this year.

"We are getting up to strength here," said Sgt. Brandon Humbke. "We've had some new members come in and two new positions have been approved for Hay River that we're going to have staffed here. So things are on the up."

Sgt. Brandon Humbke is the commander of the RCMP detachment in Hay River. Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The two new positions yet to be filled were added to the detachment in April.

"That's when we gained our other two positions – one corporal and one constable position," said Humbke.

The sergeant also noted that a long-term vacancy has been filled.

"There was one constable position that hadn't been filled," he explained, noting he didn't know exactly how long it had been vacant before he arrived a year ago.

Humbke said, when all positions are filled, the detachment will have a sergeant, two corporals and eight constables, along with a special constable.

The detachment is now looking for the additional one corporal and one constable.

"It doesn't happen overnight," said Humbke, who hopes the positions will be filled by the new year.

"It's looking good with our staffing here," he added.

Inspector Amber Clark, the officer in charge of the southern part of the NWT with the RCMP's G Division, is also pleased to see the number of members increasing at the Hay River detachment and that there will be a full complement here.

"They've done a phenomenal job regardless of getting more people," she said. "So I think this will just make it even better."

The inspector said the RCMP continually reassesses call volumes to meet the needs of each community.

Clark was asked if there is any difficulty in finding RCMP members to fill vacancies in the NWT or even across Canada.

"We have a vacancy pattern across the country and, yes, sometimes it's difficult to recruit those people and moreso to push them through quickly so that we see them from depot to boots on the ground here," she said. "But for the most part we do a pretty good job here in the North, especially in the Northwest Territories, filling that need."

The inspector noted there are a lot of two-year and three-year postings with the RCMP.

"And the members coming and going, it almost seems like a revolving door, but we make sure we have a succession plans to meet the community's needs so we always have members there," Clark explained.