A visit from the boss

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is entering a new era.

Bob Johnston, the newly sworn chief of the RNC visited Labrador West last week to meet with police staff and community leaders.

While on his two-day visit last Monday and Tuesday, he said, he wanted to see what challenges the community faces and then figure out how to meet those challenges.

Increase in illegal drugs

"I think there is an increase in illegal drug activity here," said Johnston. "It's my intent to make sure the necessary resources are put in place so we can combat some of the illegal drug activity happening here in Labrador West."

He said it's a complex issue happening all over Canada, but the RNC is committed to working with the Labrador West community to combat the problem.

It's not all about enforcement, he admitted, it's also about health and education so the RNC supports helping people deal with intervention issues and programs like DARE and STRIVE to teach students about substance abuse.

He said with people having more disposable income, there's an increase in illegal drug activity, and he sees more hard drugs like cocaine out there.

"We need to target the individuals who are bringing drugs into our communities," he said and added that it's more difficult in a small community where the police are highly visible.

The same goes for combating the problem of impaired driving, particularly when operating a snowmobile, he said.

A gift from MADD

On his visit to Labrador West, he accepted a snowmobile donated by the local chapter of MADD, which he hopes will be used to patrol trails and enforce laws with a focus on reducing impaired driving.

He said he hopes it will create a deterrent and help the RNC apprehend people who break the law more successfully.

This effort is coupled with the launch of a 911 campaign in Labrador West, where the RNC reached out to the community to call the number if they see a person operating a motorized vehicle suspecting them of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Recruitment

He stated that the RNC had success with developing a police training recruitment program with Memorial University that by September will have graduated 159 officers.

Over the next number of years, he said, many officers will be eligible to retire and although there are many young officers coming into the organization, he fears that they don't have the corporate memory or the experience of the senior officers.

One of the changes to policing, he informed, is that officers coming into Labrador now will stay for three years and the rotation gives them an opportunity to refresh the people in the community and for the officers to get more experience before they're asked to take on bigger challenges.

Don't want to leave Labrador

"What we find is that when officers do come to Labrador, I have trouble getting them out of here because they become a part of the community and enjoy the people and activities here and it's a great place to raise a family," Johnston said.

He added that last year the government purchased housing in Labrador which has attracted many officers and the RNC promotes what Labrador has to offer like a sense of community, opportunity to participate in sporting activities, the great weather for snowmobiling, and compensation.

It's a great place to gain experience, he said, since officers who start an investigation usually finish it in Labrador West.

Decades of change

Reflecting on his 31 years of policing, he said that the job has changed significantly by becoming more specialized and digitized helping the RNC grow in it's investigative capacity.

He added that in the past few years the RNC developed two full-time drug units stationed on North East Avalon, a computer forensics unit, child exploitation unit, video analysis units, a forensic artist, and (with Memorial University) has come up with a new interviewing technique program that attracts officers from across Canada.

In the end, he believes that policing is about helping people, particularly vulnerable groups like the young and elderly, and trying to bring people to justice that have breached the law of individuals.

"In my role now as chief," said Johnston. "I really enjoy the fact that I'm able to support the officers in the field to make sure that they have the necessary resources, training, and equipment to do their job in providing efficient and effective police service to the community."

Right now he said he is facing the daunting task of finding two new deputy chiefs as well as trying to identify a superintendent for Corner Brook (also responsible for Labrador West).

Although he's committed to his job for the next three to five years, he said finding a balance with family is also important.

He has two daughters and said one of them has aspirations of becoming a police officer.

"As a father you worry about your children, but I think she's make a great police officer and I'll support her in whatever she decides to do."