Local RCMP Detachment welcomes new commander

The Killam RCMP Detachment has a new commander, as Sgt. Judith Devoe has taken up the position.

Devoe has replaced Staff Sergeant Lee Brachmann, and comes to Killam from Depot, the RCMP training facility in Regina, where she was an Applied Police Sciences Facilitator for three years.

Other than her Regina Depot posting, Devoe has spent her entire career working in Alberta, starting out in Cardston, her first posting, and working in Banff, Milk River, and now Flagstaff County.

She’s used to moving around, as her father was in the military. She was born in Germany while he was stationed there, then the family moved to North Bay, Ontario; Greenwood, Nova Scotia; Gagetown, New Brunswick; then Edmonton, where she graduated from High School.

Devoe had always dreamed of joining the RCMP, she said, but when she first applied in the early 80s, applications were closed.

She moved on with her life, married, and raised a family, but never forgot about her dream.

In her early 30s, she found herself at a bit of a crossroads in life, she says, and a friend urged her to take the opportunity to reapply to the RCMP.

“When I was a DARE officer, I told kids my story, and told them never give up on your dreams.

“If there’s something you really want to do, don’t give up.”

During her moves as a member, Devoe has worked in a number of different specialties, from a rural post, to traffic services, back to another rural post, then to depot, now back to a rural post. She says that’s deliberate on her part.

“A change is as good as a rest,” she says, “The time I spent away from rural detachments gave me a new perspective into general duty.”

Devoe applied for and passed her Sergeant’s exam in order to be eligible to apply for the Killam posting, so coming here also represents a promotion for her.

Read more in the May 19 edition of The Community Press, available on newsstands now and via E-Subscription.

Leslie Cholowsky
Editor