The second in command of Prince George RCMP detachment has retired.
Insp. Chris Bomford was in the police detachment cleaning up his office and saying some goodbyes on Tuesday, but his last official day on the job was last Friday. He has been the city's commanding officer of the operations department since Jan. 2009 and has been in Prince George since July 2004.
"Seeing all the energy and excitement on the faces of all those young members, wanting to do the right thing and help the public, that is going to be the hardest part for me - saying goodbye to the great people here in the force," the 35-year RCMP veteran told The Citizen.
He said he and his wife Betsy intend to spend the next little while travelling, and relocating to a retirement home they are still searching for. Vancouver Island is their target, "as much as we love it here in Prince George."
He takes no credit for any particular successes, saying he was part of a collaborative team that "definitely had a positive impact" in Prince George policing.
He was here for the implementation of the Crime Reduction Team and the Downtown Enforcement Unit, two policing groups he believes has made good inroads into the local criminal element, plus other innovations since he arrived as a staff sergeant seven years ago.
"We would have 120 or 130 calls a night but now there is 80 or 90, typically, which allows the officers to be more proactive which is why we are seeing more drug house kick-ins and things like that," he said. "We are getting out in front, now. There has been a turnaround there, and I think it's noticeable.
"Baldy Hughes [Therapeutic Community] to me is a great thing for our community, it has been a huge help to us as police officers," he added.
As for regrets or things left undone, he said the nature of policing was always to deal with the never-ending flow of issues as a team. The need to adapt, implement new ideas, source out new technology, recognize successes, track and react to trends, etc. was ceaseless, so for him there was no one item or single issue that was left unaddressed.
"You never ever finish, in this job, you just do what you can to always improve things, and you move on to new challenges when the time is right for you," he said.
His philosophical attitude might be tempered by investigating some of the most gruesome and heinous crimes inflicted in the modern history of humanity.
Bomford took a leave from the RCMP between October 2006 and 2007 and was part of the United Nations prosecution team dispatched to war-torn Sierra Leone gathering evidence against former African dictator Charles Taylor.
The evidence gathered by Bomford and his team is now in use at Taylor's trial for crimes against humanity. The former dictator's court is being held in The Hague and is nearing completion.
"If we are over there, and we do plan to do some travelling in Europe, then by all means I will slide by The Hague and visit some people I once worked with and watch some of the proceedings," he said.
"I am very hopeful there will be a finding a guilt on this one. There have been some hills to climb in this prosecution, a lot of challenges, but I believe the evidence is there that will result in a verdict of guilty, and that he will spend some time in jail for the misery he caused so many people over there."
It is complete coincidence, he said, that the city's first in command, Supt. Brenda Butterworth-Carr, is leaving at roughly the same time. He told his supervisors more than a year ago that he intended to retire at the 35-year mark, he explained, and unbeknownst to anyone involved, Butterworth-Carr was about to be offered a promotion by national RCMP headquarters.
"Staff Sgt. Brad Anderson will be the interim officer in charge of Operations, and that position will be permanently filled once a new Supt. is named to replace Brenda Butterworth-Carr," he said.
"It is unfortunate that we are leaving in roughly the same time frame, but the transitions will be properly handled, with the input of the City of Prince George, so it all happens in as seamless a manner as possible."
