ESTEVAN - The new office commander for the Estevan RCMP has enjoyed his time in the community and the people he has worked with at the detachment.
Sgt. Steven Ross and his family moved to Estevan in late October 2021, and it’s been a big change from where they were previously in the northern Saskatchewan community of Loon Lake.
“We actually like the availability of services and grocery stores and things like that,” he said. “Where we came from, we had to drive about 40 minutes to get to a grocery store.”
Ross has spent 14 years with the RCMP, and worked in Buffalo Narrows, Assiniboia, Stanley Mission and Nipawin. Most of his career has been in what’s considered the north district, with the exception of five years in Assiniboia.
He’s noticed that the calls for the Estevan RCMP tend not to be as severe or as high-risk as what they encountered in the north.
“That’s not to say that stuff doesn’t happen here, it just happened more frequently there,” said Ross.
When he arrived in Estevan, the detachment was in good shape and he didn’t need to make a lot of changes.
“It’s a good crew that’s here right now, so I look forward to working with them for the next however many years we’re here,” said Ross.
The detachment also has a corporal and five constables. They are responsible for an area that includes six rural municipalities and numerous towns and villages.
“I haven’t really worked in this area before, and I’m not from Saskatchewan, so figuring out where things are when people are talking about them is a big thing,” said Ross. “And then there’s just a bunch of administrative stuff that I have to take over as the detachment commander, so I’m working on getting all of that figured out.”
He worked as an acting detachment commander for almost a year when he was in Loon Lake.
Ross said he enjoys the ability to help people that comes with policing. It doesn’t always work out how they want, but they always try. And there is always a challenge, because they never know what they will face when they go to work.
