After serving in this position for just over two years, Insp. Kevin Lewis is no longer in charge of the Thompson RCMP detachment.
During an Oct. 15 council meeting at City Hall, Lewis introduced his successor Insp. Brian Edmonds, who just recently fulfilled the role of staff sergeant in the Winnipeg RCMP and has over 25 years of law enforcement experience under his belt.
“I started in B.C. and moved up to the Yukon for 12 years and back to Manitoba for another 12,” Edmonds told members of council on Monday. “I just want to continue the good work that Kevin and Colby [Argue] and others in our office have done with the council here and I look forward to working with you.”
While Edmonds didn’t talk about his own approach to law enforcement in the north, and how it would overlap with or differ from his predecessor's, the newly promoted detachment commander will have his hands full for the foreseeable future.
According to information provided by Lewis to council Sept. 17, Thompson RCMP normally has to contend with “400-something calls per week” with a roster of 38 police officers.
And while an RCMP report from September states that Thompson’s year-to-date crime rate is actually down in some areas, including domestic assaults, this city is still cited as one of the most dangerous places in the country according to Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index.
Lewis will be sticking around town to oversee some the region’s smaller detachments as the district operations officer in Thompson’s Manitoba North District headquarters.
Mayor Dennis Fenske took some time at the beginning of Monday’s council meeting to welcome Edmonds into the fold and to thank Lewis for serving in the Thompson RCMP for almost five years now.
“I want to express my thanks to you and the dedication you’ve given to our community, not only as the top cop in town but also as a community leader and a community volunteer in the sports and the things that your kids are involved with.”
