Weyburn's new police chief, Marlo Pritchard, has been blown away by how friendly this city is, and pledged to continue with the work begun years ago around community policing.
Weyburn's new police chief, Marlo Pritchard, has been blown away by how friendly this city is, and pledged to continue with the work begun years ago around community policing.
He was the guest speaker to the Weyburn Rotary Club at their luncheon meeting on Thursday, and shared some of his experiences and thoughts on being the police chief for the city.
Noting he was born and raised on a farm at Pangman, Chief Pritchard talked some about his 30 years with the Regina Police Service, and about how he's found people since coming to this city.
"I've found Weyburn is such a welcoming community. Coming from Regina, you don't have that there. So many people have come into the police station to meet me - I'm not used to that," he told the Rotarians.
"It's going to be exciting getting involved with the community," he added, noting he started on patrol in 1981, learning the basics of police work.
During his time in Regina, Pritchard spent 14 years on the SWAT team, including time as the assault team leader.
"What that really taught me about myself was the importance to remain calm in the midst of a crisis. As a leader you need to be in control when the crap is hitting the fan," said the police chief.
From his time as an investigator in the plainclothes division, Pritchard admitted that he had to learn how to talk with strangers, and learn how to recognize the needs and wants of individuals.
One of the pivotal experiences as a police officer, however, was the time he spent serving the United Nations in Kosovo, where he worked for part of the time as station manager for the international police force, with staff from some 31 countries, and different sets of values and training standards than what he was used to from Canada.
"I had to quickly identify the movers and shakers of the community It was a great experience, as it challenged my leadership abilities," said Pritchard. "It was my experience in Kosovo that exposed me to work in management and with individuals."
One of the challenges was there was no freedom of movement in Kosovo, and the police became part of the social safety net for a lot of people. For example, he said, if a family wanted to go visit relatives, they couldn't just pick and go, or else they'd get shot by a sniper. They had to contact the police, and the police would safely get them through the streets to their destination.
Now, in charge of the city police force, Chief Pritchard said he's been meeting the members as well as people in the community as he tries to get a feel for the needs of the community.
"I'm committed to working with the community and for the community," he said, adding one of the areas of focus will be on succession planning as about one-third of the force will be retiring in the next five to seven years, plus there are currently a lot of junior members.
Part of his work with the community will be partnerships, which he learned to do in Regina, such as partnering with the First Nations in that city.
A Rotary member told him they like to see the police report each week in the Weyburn Review, and asked that he continue with that practice. Chief Pritchard said he believes in open communication, and wants to continue with making that information available through the media.
"I think the City of Weyburn is very fortunate to have you as the police chief," commented Rotarian Gary Anderson to applause.
