The Estevan Police Service (EPS) has announced a promotion for one of its longest-serving members.
Police Chief Paul Ladouceur announced on Saturday that Murray Cowan was moving from inspector to deputy chief. Cowan was already second-in-command with the EPS when he was the inspector, but now he will have more responsibility.
The Estevan board of police commissioners unanimously approved the promotion at their meeting on Thursday.
“We have a number of projects and plans going forward as a police service,” said Ladouceur. “It’s obvious that we’ve undertaken a lot of things over the last few years in particular to prepare for the future of policing in this community.”
Now is the time to incorporate the position of deputy chief instead of inspector into their leadership structure, Ladouceur said.
Some of the components of Cowan’s existing job will be blended into his future duties as the deputy chief. Cowan was already taking care of a lot of the day-to-day operations of the EPS, and he will continue to do so.
“There’s a broader amount of responsibility that goes along with being a deputy,” said Ladouceur. “What we’ll see … is a greater involvement in regards to strategic planning, as well as budgeting and administrative duties.”
Cowan will also have more responsibility when it comes to making key decisions for policy development, such as policies for pursuits and the Containment Warrant Entry Team, which was brought in by the EPS in 2015.
He will also be working much closer with Ladouceur for planning and operations, and will have more autonomy when it comes to those decisions.
“Right now everything tends to flow through the chief’s office. Now he’ll have the authority to make those decisions as well,” said Ladouceur.
The EPS is moving forward with a few advancements on the technological front as well. One is the introduction of in-car mobile work stations for their front-line officers, which will allow the officers to spend more time on patrol in their vehicles and less time in the office. It should also improve officer safety, since members will have easier access to information.
They’re also looking to shift to a computer-automated resource management system, which will make scheduling easier.
“The idea is this software will save time from the clerical staff, who do all the scheduling for court, for the shifts, as well as vacation selection and everything else that they’re predominantly doing by hand now,” said Ladouceur.
The EPS is also looking to bring in a computer-automated dispatch system, which will result in a transition to paperless dispatching.
“All that stuff takes planning and research, of course, because we have to be fiscally responsible,” said Cowan. “We can’t just go out and buy these things.”
Cowan, who has been a member of the EPS since 1995, said he was surprised when he was told on Friday that he would be promoted to the deputy chief’s role.
“Chief Ladouceur and I have been talking about expanding my role within the organization,” said Cowan.
In particular, he’s looking forward to learning the budget process and easing some of Ladouceur’s workload.
“We’re going through a lot of structural-type changes, and we have a lot of projects on the go, and future planning, and strategic planning,” said Cowan.
The return of the canine unit, the restructuring of the Criminal Investigations Division and the addition of the Drug-Intelligence Unit are among the other changes for the EPS in recent years.
Cowan was promoted from sergeant to inspector in May 2015. He said it’s been a good experience, but there have been challenging and busy times.
“It’s amazing to see the amount of work there is here at the administrative and the executive level,” said Cowan. “It’s been a really big learning curve for me, but that’s one thing that I do like to do. I’m really focused on learning and being challenged.”
The EPS will not be looking for someone to move into Cowan’s role as inspector.
A promotional ceremony will take place at city hall on March 27 at 4:30 p.m.
