A lengthy career providing protection and serving the public will come to an end later this summer for a well-known RCMP officer in Athabasca.
Staff Sgt. Brian Scott completed his final day of work for the RCMP on May 8 as the commander of the Athabasca detachment, but he will officially be retiring from the force this August to finish off a 35-year career.
The majority of those years have been spent in Athabasca, as Scott first arrived in the region back in 1991 to run the RCMP Highway Patrol unit in Boyle. He received a promotion to corporal and moved to Athabasca in 1997.
Another promotion saw Scott leave for Leduc in 2002 for a few years before coming back to Athabasca as the detachment commander.
Scott said one of the reasons he came back when given the opportunity was the treatment his family received during their time here.
“We met a bunch of fantastic people and made a lot of friends that remain our friends to this day,” said Scott the day before he left his post.
His children were another reason to stay, so much so that his career could have progressed a lot faster.
“I turned down promotions three times during my time here because of my three daughters,” he added. “We didn’t want move them away from their friends, and the schooling they all received here was far above the standard.
“I went on their Grade 7 trips and always had a blast with the kids on any trip,” he recalled. “I would volunteer to go now if the need arose.”
Among the big changes Scott has witnessed over three-and-a-half decades are the power of technology and the way society respects other people.
“The power of the Internet and how it is used by others to take advantage of people, and used in other ways to disadvantage people, has been something,” Scott said.
“With young people getting on sites like Facebook, not knowing half the people on their Friend list and pretending to be someone they’re not, and the number of those that are predators and the sexting that occurs now … people just sit in front of the computer instead of what we used to do, which was going out to meet people.
“It’s different, and that goes the same with people’s attitude and respect for all authority.”
Scott said he learned respect from his parents, both of whom were involved in the military and, as a result, he never misses Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Not all of the technological advancements have been bad, however. Scott explained that when cellphones came along, the number of 911 calls reporting drunk drivers climbed.
“Reports of driving offences, especially impaired driving, have skyrocketed due to cellphones. Though now, instead of talking in person or going to meet people, officers do a lot over the phone and (are) having a hard time due to people’s availability,” he said.
Among the things Scott said he wouldn’t miss is being on-call 24/7, and people coming up to him, even when out of uniform, to talk about some incident or what they should do.
“I am looking forward to having dinner and not having to answer a call,” he said with a bit of a chuckle.
“I know it’s going to be different since a lot people are still going to think that I am the ‘town sheriff’ and will still stop and ask me stuff. Though now, I can simply tell them to call the detachment as I don’t do that anymore.”
However, there are a number of things Scott will miss about the job.
“I will miss the staff, and won’t be aware of anything when a major incident takes place. And it was always satisfying seeing the kids of people I have dealt with before, welcoming me and knowing the reflection of the impact that we have had on their lives.”
While Scott has likely had a huge impact on the lives of thousands during his career, there is one incident that he explained had a tremendous impact on him personally.
“Having investigated various crimes in my career, one of the most satisfying was solving a break-and-enter of the Colinton General Store where the owner was found unconscious in the middle of the road,” he said.
“We had not much to go on until a week later; it was a Saturday morning near Perryvale where officers had found a stolen pickup and a suspect. It was there where I noticed a key piece of evidence that connected both scenes and with the help of four other detachments, we were able to connect this suspect to about 10 or 11 crimes in total.
“It was great to be able to bring closure to that store owner and his wife. That personally is one thing that I will always remember.”
With ‘Sheriff’ Scott now riding off into the sunset, the Athabasca detachment will be temporarily run by Sgt. Kevin McGillivray who has been the commanding officer at the Boyle detachment.
