New boss at RCMP detachment
Long-time Mountie has experience in smaller, remote communities
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, November 6, 2014
INUVIK
The new officer in charge of the RCMP detachment is starting to settle in.
Staff-Sgt. Craig Peterson is the new detachment commander of the Inuvik RCMP. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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Staff-Sgt. Craig Peterson is a 21-year veteran of the RCMP. Originally from British Columbia, where's he's spent most of his career, Peterson is fresh off an assignment in Yellowknife, heading up the major crimes unit there.
He's been in Inuvik since August and he says he's beginning to gain an appreciation for what the community has to offer.
"Everyone has been so friendly and very welcoming."
"The amenities here are also very impressive," he said.
"There are activities for everyone."
Peterson, who grew up in Victoria, said he began his career as a corrections officer, where he worked for six years.
"That was longer than I intended," he said with a smile.
"It was a good way to lead into police work, though. It was a good first step toward a career in the RCMP."
Much of his career was spent in northern British Columbia in Fort St. James and Prince George, so he's familiar with smaller, more
remote communities.
He left a posting in Fort St. James in 2011, and has been in Yellowknife for the last year running the G Division federal unit. That kept him busy dealing with ongoing issues, such as gang crime.
"Inuvik really reminds me of Fort St. James," he said.
He's succeeded Sgt. Scott Young, who was interim detachment commander for a few months, filling in for Staff-Sgt. Dennis McLeod.
That makes Peterson the fourth detachment commander in approximately the last two years.
"I was approached and asked if I wanted to come here, and most of my policing has been small-town uniformed work," he said.
"The opportunity to come up and work with a young, good staff was one I couldn't turn down."
It's the 11th time he's moved in his career, so he might well be wishing to lay some roots down somewhere.
Peterson said he's noticed a few things so far that have landed on his "to-do" list.
He pointed to the ongoing substance abuse problems as the primary factor of concern for him to handle.
Peterson also cited the issues with people, primarily the considerable homeless population, loitering in the downtown area.
"It's not a problem that developed overnight, and it won't be solved overnight," he said, pointing to the lack of daytime programming as a major issue.
He said the homeless people in particular need somewhere to go and something to occupy their time, particularly in the winter.
Peterson also plans to emphasize that some of the driving habits of Inuvikmiut need to be modified.
He said there was an incident recently where a driver failed to stop for police. While that ended without a further problem, the potential for it to have escalated was there.
Some of the most common traffic-related offences in Inuvik involve driving without a licence or insurance, and that will be drawing further attention, he said.
