The cities of Cranbrook and Kimberley, in consultation with the South East District RCMP, are pleased to announce the re‐establishment of separate detachments for both cities.
The service delivery provided to each community will be seamless in the transition to the former model of standalone detachments. There will be no visible impact to either community and jail cells for Kimberley will remain in Cranbrook, under a separate agreement between the two cities.
This initiative will allow the new Kimberley Detachment Commander to open the communication lines between the Kimberley detachment and the South East District in Kelowna.
“It does not have any financial implication for either Cranbrook or Kimberley,” said Kimberley Mayor Ron McRae. “It has no affect, other than allowing our Kimberley RCMP detachment the ability to consult and communicate with the Regional Office directly, while maintaining support services we currently have in place.”
With the recent retirement of the former Inspector in Cranbrook, a review of the integration took place and both communities have opted to establish two independent Detachments. The two communities are different in a number of ways despite their close proximity. It is felt that these differences are better served with an independent Detachment model.
“We are proud to provide policing services for a variety of municipalities in the South East District region of B.C. The B.C. RCMP is committed to providing the most effective policing services requested and required based on the needs of the individual communities and the region. We can assure the communities of Kimberley and Cranbrook will continue to be well served by the RCMP,” stated Chief Superintendent Mike Sekela.
Mayor Stetski added, “Cranbrook City Council is comfortable with having separate detachments for our two cities, because we know that both detachments will continue to support one another whenever it is required.”
As part of their next steps, the City of Cranbrook with the assistance of the RCMP, plan on implementing a new Staff Sergeant Detachment Commander sometime later this year.