OLDS — Staff Sgt. Warren Wright, the new commanding officer of Olds RCMP, has been officially introduced to town council.
Wright grew up in Olds in the 1970s and ‘80s, graduating from Olds High School in 1987 and joined the RCMP a few years later.
During his 28-year career, Wright has been stationed in various communities across Alberta and Saskatchewan.
He’s back in the community after a six-and-half-year absence. He's been in and out Olds and surrounding area a few times. In 2015, he was transferred out of Didsbury.
Wright is replacing Staff Sgt. Jim MacDonald, who officially retired in March after a 25-year career, including three years as commander in Olds.
After MacDonald retired, Sgt. Jody Achtymichuk of Sundre RCMP filled in as interim commander of the Olds detachment.
Before coming back to Olds, Wright served as commanding officer of the High Prairie and Faust RCMP detachment, located about 530 kilometres north of Olds. He served in that position for about four years.
Wright started his new job near the end of June and was introduced to council during their July 12 meeting.
Several councillors took turns introducing themselves to Wright and welcoming him back to the community.
“I am very grateful to be able to return back to Olds,” Wright said. “I’m very happy to come back in this sort of latter part of my career. I feel like everything that I’ve done thus far led me home and I’m able to apply that to commanding the detachment here in Olds.”
He said he’s still getting used to his new role and the detachment as a whole.
“That being said, everything seems to be fairly straightforward; there are really no surprises," he said.
Wright said the Olds detachment consists of 15 members – including himself – and "I have five support staff, so that’s a fantastic ratio, for sure.”
He said he plans to rejoin local service clubs he used to belong to and may join one that’s new to him as well.
His wife, who works for the Alberta government, plans to work out of their home. They have a couple of kids in university.
Coun. Mary Anne Overwater chairs the town’s police advisory committee.
She said the committee is looking forward to meeting with Wright and other officers to discuss the future of policing in the community.
“Good,” said Wright. “I look forward to that as well.”
It was noted that previous commanders were only in the office for a few years before retiring. Coun. Heather Ryan wondered when Wright plans to retire.
“I have a plan. You see, my grandfather was with the Co-op for 39 years and retired at 62. My father was with the Co-op for 39 years and retired at 62,” Wright said.
“I’m not going to do 39 years, but I’ll do 35, so at least another six to seven years.”
"Thank goodness,” Ryan said with a short laugh.
Mayor Mike Muzychka said, “It’s fantastic to have you in place. I know you’ll hit the ground running and we’ve dumped a fair amount on your plate before you even got here, so we appreciate how quickly you’re catching up.
“We appreciate everything you’ve done so far and it’s good to have you back in town.”
