HUMBOLDT — Humboldt’s newest police officer, Cpl. Ivan Ottenbreit, said he’s always been interested in policing.
“I just had an interest at a very young age and like problem solving and helping people,” he said.
Ottenbreit, who’s been with the RCMP for 16 years, started his new job with the Humboldt-Lanigan RCMP on Sept. 9.
“It was a promotional opportunity and I applied for it,” said Ottenbreit, whose last posting was as a constable in Cut Knife. “I succeeded. I was lucky enough to be chosen as the new corporal of Humboldt.”
Ottenbreit, who was raised near Devon, Alta., worked as a community constable in the Northwest Territories for seven years, where he focused on enforcing bylaws, traffic rules and other territorial statutes. In 2003, he went to the RCMP academy.
“I went to training for a period of six months. I already had a wife and two kids at the time, so they lived with my parents while I went to training,” he said. “It was a huge adjustment for everyone.”
His first posting was in Fort Qu'Appelle, where he was a general duty constable for five years. He also worked with the southern enforcement response team, which was involved in drug investigations and in more high risk or high profile investigations.
After that, he was a plainclothes investigator in the general investigations section of the Battlefords RCMP. He was there for three years. Following that, he was posted to Cut Knife, where he was for around seven and a half years.
Ottenbreit said what he likes about the job is using his problem-solving skills, helping people with their community issues, and ensuring people feel safe and secure.
The corporal said one highlight for him is helping out people affected by what may be considered minor property crimes, like the destruction of lawn ornaments, and finding those responsible and holding them to account.
“It makes them [those affected by the crime] feel good, and they feel safe, and they feel as though someone's listening,” he said.
“It is a good feeling to be able to solve those small things because some of the smallest things are very important to the community.”
Ottenbreit said in his new position, he’ll be focused on making ensure that the level of service in the Humboldt-Lanigan RCMP detachment remains strong.
“The RCMP in Humboldt is very involved in the community, so I'm striving to help us maintain that community involvement.”
