Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008 |
Insp. Kirke Hopkins has been promoted to superintendent of the detachment in Fort McMurray, Alta. (Citizen file photo)
Insp. Kirke Hopkins has been promoted to superintendent of the detachment in Fort McMurray, Alta., and will be departing sometime in the next few months.
"It is actually the largest detachment in Alberta," said Hopkins, with a complement of 162 Mounties and about 60 civilians. "It is a promotional opportunity and it has challenges similar to Prince George in terms of policing needs, so it is related to what I'm doing here."
Hopkins has made a name for himself as the leader of the field operations run by the Prince George detachment. One of his main initiatives was implementing one of the province's first crime reduction units, a small group of specialized officers who do little else but dog the city's most prolific offenders who do the majority of property crime. The statistics show a staggering drop in most crime categories this year, and the credit is being placed with the new team.
"He did a lot of the legwork to make sure we were one of the pilot program locations for a crime-reduction team, he could see the benefits and he was right, that team has been doing miracles," said Prince George RCMP spokesman Const. Gary Godwin.
"It would have been nice to watch that success grow even further, but here was an opportunity I had to jump at," said Hopkins, who leaves the city after a little less than three years at the municipal detachment and more than a year at North District regional headquarters.
"I have enjoyed my time here. I've enjoyed working with the City of Prince George, they have given us great support here and that is appreciated."
He is part of the municipal detachment's one-two punch in the command ranks, along with Supt. Dahl Chambers, who announced this fall that he is on his way to a new post at E-Division headquarters in Vancouver in the next couple of months. It leaves a large hole in the leadership of the detachment.
"There are lots of good people out there who are interested, that is for sure," said Hopkins.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 November 2008 )
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