SUNDRE — Although still waiting as of late last month to be assigned a fresh uniform and patrol vehicle, the municipality’s new community peace officer has been on the job since the end of March.
“I’m just waiting for the official appointment from the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General,” Sam Zhao said on Wednesday, May 25 during an interview, adding he anticipated that would happen sooner than later.
“So, I haven’t been able to enforce the Traffic Safety Act yet,” said Zhao, adding that once he’s been officially appointed, he intends to keep an eye on motorists not just around the schools, but also the roundabouts as well as the Main Avenue-Highway 27 corridor on long weekends when traffic tends to become congested all the way to the east side of town going up the hill near the Sundre Golf Club.
Zhao brings with him to the position a background in law enforcement, having previously worked as a correctional officer at the Edmonton Remand Centre as well as a special constable with Toronto Community Housing from about 2018 to last October.
Having largely grown up in Toronto with some time spent later in life in Edmonton, Zhao is quickly adapting to life in a small rural town.
“I spent some time with the Army and we did a lot of training outside of the city. So, the country isn’t anything that’s new to me,” he said.
It’s just been a matter of becoming more acquainted with life in rural Alberta, he said, citing as an example learning about the likes of hydrogen sulphide—also known by its acronym H2S—an extremely hazardous gas present in about one-third of all natural gas produced in the province.
“I had no clue what that was when I first moved to town,” Zhao candidly confessed, adding he’s since become familiarized with the potentially deadly gas.
Additionally, life is less anonymous in a small town, and he’s also getting used to the “ins and outs of nuances” of living in a little community.
“Knowing your neighbours or seeing familiar faces at the grocery store, that’s definitely different from living in a city,” he said.
Asked what motivated him to switch gears from his previous position in Toronto to become Sundre’s new community peace officer, he expressed a fondness for working in the field of law enforcement.
“So, it is similar to the roles that I’ve held in the past,” he said, adding it boils down to different responsibilities and jurisdictions.
With past experience handling criminal code offences, Zhao said his efforts now will focus more on bylaw and traffic enforcement as well as community engagement.
“My job is to build relationships with people and to be seen around town,” he said, adding he’s approached local organizations such as the Sundre Municipal Library as well as the Greenwood Neigbhourhood Place Society, and has participated in the local RCMP’s recent public engagement town halls.
“The town knows there’s a new peace officer now, so the calls have started coming in. The majority of them are dog calls or unsightly (premises) so far.”
His objective is to play a proactive enforcement role. Recognizing his position does not deal with Criminal Code offences, Zhao said the work a community peace officer does is nevertheless mostly intelligence-based; not only knowing people in the community but also what’s happening.
“I think the best part of my job is talking to people,” he said, adding he enjoys getting to know their stories, who they are, and along the way establishing relationships.
“It’s being personable with people,” he said.
That means actively participating in town activities, which he looks forward to—especially the upcoming Sundre Pro Rodeo later in June.
“I’ve never been to a rodeo,” he said. “I’m excited to go to the rodeo and go see what’s up.”
Responding to a question about whether he has any particular priorities or initiatives he plans to pursue, Zhao said that bylaw enforcement is complaint driven.
“So, if I do receive a complaint, it’ll be investigated,” he said, adding outcomes will depending on how each investigation pans out.
“But my main priority would be the Traffic Safety Act and enforcing traffic through town,” he added.
Receptive to being invited to either attend or participate in community events, Zhao said he can be reached by email at [email protected].
“If you’re hosting an event and it has something to do with the town, you’re more than welcome to send me an email and I’ll show up,” he said.
When he’s not on the clock, Zhao said he plans to spend his spare time better getting to know the West Country.
“I’ve been out to Ya Ha,” he said. “But there are lots of roads and a lot of trunk roads out there that I haven’t been down. So, I’ll spend my summer probably just exploring the backcountry.”
