SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Insp. Frank Gallagher may be the latest commander of the Yellowknife RCMP Detachment but he is no stranger to the North.
RCMP Insp. Frank Gallagher says Yellowknife, as a hub community, faces similar challenges as Iqaluit does, where he was stationed last year. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo |
On April 6 he moved to the territorial capital from Iqaluit, where he had spent four years and has served as a police officer in the NWT before. He was posted in Behchoko in 1986 but after two years moved to become the first RCMP officer to be stationed in Whati and patrolling Gameti and what became Wekweeti as well.
"It was certainly an adventure," he told Yellowknifer.
He left the North in 1992 for Charlottetown, P.E.I., but continued working with aboriginal populations in subsequent postings in Goose Bay and Davis Inlet, Labrador, and Vancouver, where he was in charge of aboriginal policing for a large section of British Columbia.
In late 2007 he began a 15-month tour in Kandahar where he mentored and supported the new Afghan police force. He came back to Canada in 2009 and took over as the deputy chief of criminal operations in Iqaluit.
"I've always enjoyed a challenge," he said. "Working and living in the North, it's not something that everyone can do, but I've always really enjoyed it."
Gallagher did acknowledge that, as a territorial hub, Yellowknife faces similar challenges to Iqaluit, in that it draws people from surrounding communities.
"This is where all the people who get kicked out of their community come, all the people who are just out of jail," he said. "The good and the bad, they all wind up here."
As for any plans for the city's police force, Gallagher said he's still waiting to get the lay of the land.
"I'm still getting my feet wet," he said. "I'm in meetings all this week with different groups. I want to know what they expect from their police before I do anything."
