Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 19/98) - It's a long way from Yellowknife and Canada itself to the sadness and streets of a once-beautiful city ripped apart by civil war.

Nonetheless, that is exactly where Ross Grimmer, the RCMP's top cop here in the North, is off to walk the beat.

Grimmer, a 32-year RCMP veteran, who officially handed over the reigns of command of G Division at a special ceremony Friday in Yellowknife, will begin work with the UN's policing forces Sept. 6 in Sarajevo. Once there, he'll join about 2,000 police officers from around the world who are attempting to help restore law and order in a place ravaged by war for almost a decade.

"It's a challenge and opportunity to serve the country and RCMP in a different way," he said when asked about his new mission. "We sent our first group over when the war was on (in the early 1990s)."

He'll hold the title of Canadian representative on the UN's Force for Policing.

Before arriving in Bosnia, Grimmer has to go through an intense briefing process where he'll receive information from the RCMP and other Canadian government departments before arriving overseas. Already, he said, thick briefing packages have been arriving for him here in Yellowknife.

Once he arrives, in September, his first mission will be to find a place to live. And, he says he wants to assess the safety situation before his wife Linda joins him.

However, leaving Yellowknife after five years wasn't an easy decision for the couple, Grimmer said.

"We met a lot of fine, fine people here," the departing RCMP officer said. "We're going to miss all the people here."

Linda made similar comments.

"It's a great community," she said of Yellowknife. "That's the hardest part about leaving."