Insp. Scott Tod is settling into his new post as officer in charge of the Red Deer RCMP. Tod, 51, recently moved to the City and has been officially on the job only for a couple of weeks.
His rank is currently that of inspector, but will change to superintendent once the new rank is approved by the RCMP in Ottawa.
Before moving to Red Deer, Tod was stationed in Wetaskiwin for three years where he was the officer in charge there and before that he was in Merritt, B.C. where he was in charge of that detachment as well.
Tod, who grew up in Edmonton, has been in the RCMP for 25 years and said his interest was sparked for that career path at a young age. “It is really all I wanted to do. I thought about other things but I always wanted to be a policeman and I always wanted to be a Mountie,” he said. “Both sides of my family were ranchers and farmers and I always heard the stories about their relationships with the Mounties and how they were part of the community and well-respected.”
He added some of the highlights over his career have included being part of the serious crimes unit in Coquitlam, B.C.
“I really enjoyed that work and working on high profile cases and serious investigations.”
Another highlight has been serving as an RCMP officer in five different communities.
“I’ve been in charge as a corporal, as a sergeant, as a staff sergeant and soon as a superintendent, so each one of those have been a real highlight because every community has been so different and every community has had their own challenges. Just to be part of improving policing and improving community relationships and morale – that’s what I’ve really enjoyed doing and that is why I have stayed in this career stream.
“I like making a difference – I think we all do as police officers. And two days are never the same in police work so that’s what I enjoy. You get to meet people from all walks of life and whether it’s good or bad or otherwise you get to see and experience things that many people never do.”
In terms of Red Deer, Tod said challenges for the community include economic growth and the location of the City.
“My perception so far is that the challenges we are facing are tied in with the opportunities of the City’s strong economic development and the location of the City as well,” he said. “When we have a strong economy and we have a great location that is centrally located between two big centres and it’s an attractive place for people to come there are huge opportunities for the City but with that come challenges, too. With all those great things come challenges with policing.
“However, those challenges are not only related to policing but also traffic and housing as well as other programs.”
In terms of what Tod is looking to focus on right away, he said he is working on some of the initiatives that were started but not completed before he arrived.
“There were a number of initiatives that were started prior to my arrival. One of them is the differential call response – utilizing municipal employees to go to the less serious calls. That is something that has been left for me to implement and that is one of the things we are looking at getting going,” he said. “There are also a number of in-house administrative initiatives. Having only been here for a short time there is still a lot that I am still trying to observe and understand about how the detachment runs. We have 141 members right now so there are a lot of different units and we have around 80 support staff. There’s a lot going on here.
“I also want to build my own relationship with the City.”
Meanwhile, Tod said he is happy to be in Red Deer and is looking forward to making a difference in the community.
“My family and I are very excited to be here on a personal side. On the professional side, we are the largest RCMP contract in the province, we have a lot of resources and a lot of good people here. I’m excited to see how much we can achieve, the relationships we can build, the quality of service we can develop and the morale we can create here.”
efawcett@reddeerexpress.com
