Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 04/98) - There's a new top cop at the Yellowknife detachment of the RCMP with the announcement Staff Sgt. Dave Grundy has been promoted to district commander north of the Western Arctic.

Grundy (left) has spent the past four and a half years as detachment commander for the Yellowknife division of the RCMP and will conduct his new duties from a different office in the Yellowknife detachment building.

He will assume the overall responsibility for 10 detachments from Yellowknife, north to Tuktoyuktuk.

Taking control of the Yellowknife detachment as of Oct. 1 will be Staff Sgt. Andrew Boland, who came to the NWT in 1991 when he was posted to Broughton Island.

Boland also served at Baker Lake and Coral Harbour before being transferred to the training section in Yellowknife.

The sergeant said he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead for the detachment and its members.

Boland said he has some big shoes to fill in assuming Grundy's former position, but said new ideas and fresh faces should serve to enhance the RCMP's service.

"I don't know if there's anything we can improve upon," said Boland, "but we'll certainly bring some new ideas and fresh views along with us."

Boland said he sees the RCMP's role as delivering a community service to the residents of the city of Yellowknife.

"We're just like any other service-oriented organization in the city, people come to us and rely on us for services and I see us providing the best possible services we can to the people of Yellowknife."

Moving to the vacated operational support position for the detachment is Sgt. Marlin Degrand who came North from Saskatchewan in 1991.

After postings to Baker Lake, Fort Simpson, Rae/Edzo and, most recently, Fort Resolution, he was named the operational support NCO of the Yellowknife detachment.

Degrand said his role is a little more hands-on to the operational side than Boland's.

"Where Andrew will provide the guiding direction for how he wants to see the delivery of service from our office going, my role is more to determine how to implement that design in the most efficient and effective way I can.

"I'm here as, basically, the operational end of the stick and, on a personal level, it's a tremendous opportunity for me."