Bob Couture, the former RCMP officer in charge, left his position with the law enforcement agency on January 23 in order to take the position of Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Executive Director of Community and Protective Services. According to RCMP Cpl. George Cameron “He was a fabulous leader here at the detachment, He was well-liked, a very knowledgeable man, and certainly knew his stuff and very well respected. We just wish him all the best in his new endeavours.” RCMP Insp. Rob McCloy, who was previously the operations support officer for the detachment, will be the acting officer in charge until a replacement for Couture can be located. In the past McCloy has taken on these duties when Couture was away so it is nothing new for the inspector.

According to RCMP Cpl. George Cameron replacing Couture after the superintendent’s switch from the RCMP to the RMWB could take some time or it could happen very fast. “It’s like any other position in the RCMP, it gets posted. There’s no specific timeline, it could be quick, it could take months or even longer. I would just be speculating. (The OIC is) the leader of the detachment and ensures that each unit, each watch, each different section is running as smoothly as possible,” When asked about taking on the new duties Insp McCloy said “It’s fine,. “I’ve done the job before, so it’s nothing new for me. I look forward to the challenge. He made the choice that this was the right time for him to move on to other opportunities, and I congratulate him. I enjoyed working with him, he was a very experienced police officer.”