High-ranking RCMP officer moving on

Jan 9, 2018 | 1:00 PM

The head of the Western Alberta District RCMP office in Grande Prairie will soon be moving on

Chief Superintendent John Ferguson is moving to Edmonton to become the Criminal Operations Officer for K Division. He will also be promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner.

“I’ll be responsible for all operations going on throughout the province, more so on the contract side, the uniform side. Basically, I’m taking over my boss’s position.”

He remembers when he came here in 2015, crime was at an all-time high.

“I’m very proud of all of the work that all of the members have done over the last couple years in reducing that. It goes back to the City giving some additional resources, (but) it’s not about just getting more resources, it’s using those resources in a very effective and efficient way.”

Ferguson says extra resources meant the Grande Prairie detachment could create a Crime Reduction Unit and a second General Investigation section that concentrated on illegal drugs.

“When you look at what was causing most of the problems, the drug trade was certainly a very prominent influence on most of our criminal activity and then just not having that ability at that time to target those that were having the most impact on crime in our community and with the creation of those teams, we were able to start doing that.”

Ferguson says ‘s last day at his current post will be Friday. He will start at his new job Monday.

by Curtis Galbraith