It is all he’s ever done.
So forgive Red Deer RCMP Supt. Scott Tod for feeling a little out of sorts when he hands over his gun and badge after 28 years of serving the public on May 5.
Tod, 53, will report for duty in his new gig as the city’s new policing manager on June 6.
The timing was perfect, he said.
Police officers often start thinking about retiring after 25 years of service.
Tod, who has held the detachment head post since 2014, said his family has made a home in Red Deer and do not want to leave.
It will be a shift moving over to the administrative side of things but Tod is confident his background will be a huge advantage in the role. He will be in charge of the 100 or so municipal workers at the detachment and work closely with city officials.
His new office is around the corner from his current one.
Tod said the department has collectively made positive differences in the two years since he came to the city.
He counts the establishment of the regional Priority Task Force, improvements to the Priority 3 call taking service, building on the city and council relationship with the RCMP as wins.
But there is still work to be done as Tod leaves the detachment recently switched to a new department-wide crime reduction strategy to target property crime.
Tod said it involves having the detachment focusing on property with help from the criminal analyst by identifying hot spots, targeting prolific offenders and targeting problematic residences.
Every police unit and watch will be co-ordinated and working on the same targets, residences and areas, said Tod, who is from Edmonton.
“I think it is realistic and it has to be because property crimes continue to increase, not only for us but for other communities,” said Tod. “We have to look at ways to be more strategic, effective and efficient instead of simply asking for more resources all the time.”
Tod said his intention was not to come to Red Deer to retire but the city job was something he did not want to pass up. Tod is the second police chief in Red Deer to retire within three years.
“I wanted to stay in the city and still be involved in police work,” said Tod
Policing will always be part of him, said Tod.
Red Deer was his fifth post as commanding officer. Before Red Deer, he worked in Wetaskiwin and has 22 years of policing under his belt in British Columbia.
“Believe it or not, it is the only thing I wanted to do growing up,” said Tod, who is from Edmonton. “I didn’t really pursue anything else after university.”
His family members were farmers and ranchers and his father grew up on a ranch.
“I always heard the positive stories of the local Mounties stopping in for coffee or playing on the baseball team coaching kids,” said Tod. “That always impressed me the way they felt about the (Royal Canadian) Mounted Police.”
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com