The new commander of the Squamish RCMP won't be moving to town - he already lives here.
S/Sgt. Mark Hennigar accepted a lateral transfer from the RCMP's North Vancouver office and is going to be in charge of the Squamish detachment later this month.
According to Sgt. Colin Worth, Hennigar has more than more 20 years of experience with the RCMP.
Hennigar will settle into his new position through the fall. Over the course of the summer former RCMP S/Sgt. Cliff Doherty adjusted to life as a senior staff member with the District of Squamish. Doherty was appointed to the position of Public Safety Director for the District of Squamish earlier this year.
The announcement of his appointment took place in April and he started his new job soon after he officially opened the new emergency services building on Hwy. 99 at Finch Drive.
Doherty was with the RCMP for a little less than 29 years.
In that time Doherty was stationed in Squamish three separate times. He came to the community as a constable and with each of his transfers back home he came with a new title. In his final posting he came as a sergeant and in 1999 he was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.
As the person in charge of the RCMP in Squamish for five years, one of Doherty's biggest accomplishments was seeing the completion of the badly needed new office for the RCMP and the volunteers with the Squamish Emergency Program (SEP).
Those who work with Doherty are also adjusting to the new local emergency services reporting structure. Working from the SEP portion of the new building on Finch Drive, Doherty is overseeing the district's emergency services, which is made up of the RCMP, Squamish Fire Rescue, emergency services, bylaws and animal control. According to Mayor Ian Sutherland, Doherty is also in charge of youth services.
Doherty is reporting to the district's Chief Administrative Officer, Kim Anema. Fire Chief Ray Saurette is now reporting to Doherty.
For his part, Anema is glad to have Doherty on board.
"Historically, policing was done off the corner of my desk or the mayor's desk," Anema told The Chief. "The work is now being done more hands-on."
Doherty himself won't be hands on with the day-to-day policing in Squamish. Instead his role relates more to the administration and the human resources related to local policing.
"The RCMP is still considered an entity unto itself in that they have the contract to provide the policing services," Doherty said. "They have an avenue to talk directly with the mayor and council. My involvement with the RCMP is more along the administrative lines in that I will be helping them with budget and human resources issues. It is the one group under my umbrella that I am not in charge of. We work co-operatively."
The creation of the public safety director position also frees up time for the district's administrative services director. Trudy Coates was overseeing the animal control and bylaw departments.
Anema said he and Coates can now concentrate more fully on their work now that public safety issues are Doherty's responsibility.
With policing costs in Squamish rising, the district is looking for the most effective use of the more than $3.4 million that is put into emergency services each year. With the new building and the new equipment that is located in the building, planning is taking place to market emergency dispatching services for other communities.
"Cliff has worked in this area for a long time," Anema said. "He has a good knowledge of how the RCMP works. He had saved the District of Squamish money in terms of how the detachment works."
The district is now looking to Doherty to continue doing that while creating efficiencies by bringing in outside revenue through the shared use of the 911 dispatching team in Squamish. No contracts are in place at this time but a market was identified and there is talk of Whistler possibly soon looking for dispatch services.
In anticipation of future contracts, the dispatch centre in Squamish is no longer a one-person operation and gone are the days when a member of the RCMP sat in the dispatch centre to watch the phones while the dispatcher on-duty took a break.
"Squamish and the dispatch centre are well beyond being a one-person centre," Doherty said."The dispatch centre is a big ticket item," said Anema. "I want it all and I want it now, just like the community."
Since 1993, updating the Squamish emergency plan has been taking place and Anema said that in 2003 the plan was tested during two separate significant events. The fire danger that closed the backcountry and the floods in the fall were well handled, according to Anema, but he said improvements can be made. Emergency measures require management and Doherty will play a key role in future emergency situations and he will also be involved in the ongoing updating of the emergency plan.
"The emergency plan is a big issue and needs to be dealt with," Anema said.
"We are going to create a seamless emergency services operation," Doherty said in describing his highest priority in his new job.
