OLDS — Staff Sgt. Jim MacDonald, the commanding officer of the Olds RCMP detachment, is retiring after a 25-year career.
Officially, he retires in March, but his last day of work is Jan. 29 when he will take some vacation time.
MacDonald has served as commanding officer in Olds for three years.
Sgt. Jody Achtymichuk, the Sundre RCMP detachment's commander, will fill in on an interim basis until a new commander takes over.
Cpl. Resus Organ from the Didsbury RCMP detachment will be seconded to Sundre to serve as acting commander of that detachment.
MacDonald suspects his position may not be permanently filled until spring or maybe even summer.
MacDonald was born in Ottawa but raised in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
After university in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, he worked at a children’s hospital in Halifax as a child behaviour worker before joining the RCMP in 1996.
“During training, I was asked my preference of provinces for my first post and I requested ‘anywhere in the east coast,’ he wrote in an email. “They responded ‘Yes – Alberta it is.’”
Over the years, MacDonald was posted throughout Alberta – from Vermilion, Wetaskiwin and Maskwacis (formerly known as Hobbema) to Grande Prairie.
During his career, MacDonald has worked in general duty as well as the General Investigation (GIS) section which largely involves everything from homicide to drug and gang activity.
He also worked as an instructor at the RCMP Training Academy, teaching applied police sciences for three years.
Then he served on the major crime unit for another three years, conducting homicide investigations throughout southern Saskatchewan.
Before coming to Olds, MacDonald was posted in Grande Prairie, where he served as watch commander, then was placed in charge of operations support sections.
He began his post in Olds in January 2018.
“As most of my career was oriented towards operational work and serious crime investigations, I came to Olds wanting to be more involved in building community relationships,” MacDonald wrote.
He admired the positive work that community policing officers do, so pressed for one such position in Olds. Council agreed and supported that idea. So about a year ago, Cst. Morley Statchuk took on that position.
“I’m very pleased with the involvement the detachment has had with our communities over the last three years and I’m hopeful it will be even better going forward," he wrote.
Another big goal was to cut the crime rate. MacDonald said it has now fallen after a peak in 2017.
“I’m happy to leave on a high note with property crime being at its lowest levels in over five years," he wrote.
“I would love to take the credit for that decrease, but that goes to the hard work of the detachment team and the community members that have taken an active role in crime prevention.”
He's also pleased to see an increase in resources and equipment.
That includes a new sergeant position to oversee and direct operational activities as well as a new public servant position to assist with the administrative workload.
MacDonald said the highlight of his stay in Olds has been the people he’s met and the assistance he’s received from town officials.
He said the greatest challenge he’s encountered has been “negative media attention” toward police, especially this past year.
"That can make it challenging to keep yourself and others motivated,” MacDonald wrote.
“However, working in a place like Olds helps to counteract those challenges, as the RCMP does get a tremendous amount of community support here. It’s a great place to work in policing."
MacDonald does have one big regret. If he could do it all over again, he’d create a better work-life balance.
“For the first half, too much of my focus was on my career interests and not enough on my family," he wrote.
“Although I experienced everything I could have hoped for with the RCMP, I missed a lot milestones and events in my kids’ lives when they were young and you just can’t get that time back.”
MacDonald and his wife Darlene plan to remain in Olds. He plans to look for “a new adventure” after taking a little time to “recharge my batteries.”
"Darlene and I immediately felt at home when we moved to Olds. After living in many towns and cities across the country, you get a good sense of where you want to call home,” he wrote.
“Although the proximity to the mountains, Calgary and the airport, we love to travel, are all big factors, it’s really the people here and the sense of community that has made the decision easy for us.”
Mayor Mike Muzychka praised MacDonald.
“Jim has been a strong leader and advocate for our community," Muzychka wrote in an email. “He has worked well with council and his proactive and inclusive approach has been extremely beneficial.
“The relationship between the town and the RCMP has been extremely positive during Jim’s tenure.”
MacDonald was especially helpful when it came to creating the town’s latest edition of Citizens on Patrol and in developing a new police advisory committee, he said.
MacDonald’s calm and great sense of humour helped reduce any tensions that arose, he said.
“I speak for all council, our staff and the community. Jim (is) highly respected and will be missed,” he said.
