Greater Trail’s new police chief is no stranger to the area.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Dave Johnson, who took over as detachment commander about four weeks ago, previously served in Trail and Castlegar.
Johnson has 26 years of service with the RCMP. He started his career in Richmond in 2000, where he worked for three years before being transferred to Texada Island, where he spent another three years. He then came to Castlegar as a constable and was promoted to corporal in Trail in 2007. He remained there until 2015, then returned to Castlegar for another year and a half.
He was subsequently promoted to sergeant in Campbell River and worked there for four years before being further promoted to staff sergeant and taking over command of the West Shore detachment, which serves several communities outside of Victoria. He spent four and a half years there before an opportunity to return to the West Kootenay appeared “and I snapped it up.”
In addition to being the place where he raised his kids, this area is home for Johnson’s wife, who grew up just outside of Nelson. They still have family in the area.
He says Trail’s civic pride and volunteerism sets it apart from other places.
“What always impressed me about Trail is the community support and the way the community gets behind projects,” he said, pointing to the BC Winter Games held last week. “I’ve gone to a couple meetings with that and just understanding the volunteers that it takes to pull off a successful games.”
Johnson says he’ll meet with local community leaders soon to help set annual policing priorities, but he sees maintaining staffing levels and police visibility as ongoing issues.
“I’m happy to be back into the Kootenays and look forward to meeting police challenges for the next many years here,” Johnson said.
He takes over from Sgt. Mike Wicentowich, who went on medical leave last November. Wicentowich had been in charge of the detachment since 2018.
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