ST. PAUL – A new RCMP detachment commander in St. Paul is expected to be coming in the next few months. And Sgt. Bobby Burgess, previously the Operations NCO for St. Paul Detachment, has officially accepted a position as a District Advisory NCO (DANCO).
His role will include being a conduit between detachment commanders and the district commander of the eastern Alberta RCMP District. Information from the RCMP indicates there are 26 detachments in eastern Alberta.
A DANCO typically oversees five or six of those detachments.
Burgess says his job won’t be that much different from his previous role. “It’s very similar.”
As the Operations NCO, he was responsible with overseeing the operations of the St. Paul detachment, including but far from limited to investigation scheduling and community consultations.
And as a DANCO, instead of looking over one detachment, his role will expand to overseeing multiple detachments. Providing some examples, his responsibilities will include providing coaching, mentorship, and staff development to the detachments he will be assigned to.
“A major part of the [DANCO] role is you’re also managing significant and major events,” like protests, emergency situations, shootings, homicides, or wildfires, for example, he explains.
“We would go out and oversee those situations and just make sure everything’s being done properly, and coach and mentor junior members who may not have the experience dealing with those situations.”
An Operations NCO has many responsibilities. So, Burgess said that someone with a good understanding of the many different aspects of policing is a desirable candidate. For example, they need to have a good understanding of the priorities of municipalities in the St. Paul region and nearby First Nations.
“It needs to be someone that’s community-minded who wants to get out there and meet people, and understand what’s important to the community,” Burgess adds.
Burgess expressed his excitement for his new role, and the opportunities to face new challenges and learn new things at the same time. “I’m going to miss the St. Paul detachment. It’s been really good to me, and I hope that at some point, I’ll be given the opportunity to come back to the detachment.”
For now, he is helping run the St. Paul detachment until the interim detachment commander can take charge. It might take months for the RCMP to hire an Operations NCO. As an NCO position, there would be many applicants for the job.
Asked if he will be moving away from St. Paul, Burgess says he won’t. He will be moving “upstairs” to join the six DANCOs at the St. Paul detachment building.
“My kids are pretty entrenched here [in the community],” he says, and he would prefer not to move them.
Burgess says he is happy to stay in the community.
“This community has been really good to me and my family through some difficult times,” he adds. “Hopefully, I can finish my career here and give back to the community.”
