By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Castor Advance
For Sgt. John Pike, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Coronation RCMP Detachment, his route to Coronation was anything but direct.
Deciding he wanted to be a police officer at age 16, it wasn’t until he hit 32-years old that he made it into the RCMP.
“It’s not always the easiest to get in,” said Pike.
“There’s a lot of testing. A lot of background checks. Now there is polygraphs for members to get in as well.”
Since his first posting at Maskwacis, where he served as a General Duty member for two years before switching to the Gang Unit, he’s worked several places around the province, giving him a deep well of experience to draw on as commander of Coronation.
Despite his experiences in the Gang Unit, Commercial Crime and the Federal Serious Organized Crime unit, his heart lay in General Duty policing.
“I prefer to be frontline, being in uniform,” said Pike.
“I really liked being front line, I had more contact with the community.”
His previous posting was Parkland Detachment around Stony Plain.
“I was there for just under six years,” said Pike.
“It’s where I learned my job as a corporal. I developed a lot of skills on management, helping members, and helping them improve their files.”
It is those skills that Pike is leaning on in his role as the top-cop in Coronation.
He has been coaching the members in Coronation and changing the reporting that gets done. With the changes implemented, Coronation, which had just under 1100 case files for the year in 2020, is already sitting over 1000 just over half-way through summer 2021.
“With all the steps we have been taking to ensure that we are creating a true picture of the work that Coronation RCMP is doing, our files have increased,” said Pike.
“I’m trying to make sure I’m mentoring my members, addressing concerns in a timely manner.”
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 17, when he presented to County of Paintearth council, more than 1000 case files have been generated for the year. In between Jan. 1 and June 30, hard dates for which statistics are available, the Coronation RCMP responded to 256 property crime files, 29 persons crime files, seven drug offence files, 47 other criminal code offence files, 66 other federal or provincial statutes, and 123 other common policy activity files, such as wellness checks or animal calls.
The pandemic has challenged Pike and his members under him, but with restrictions easing he is planning to hold open-houses in the communities covered by his detachment.
“It’s been hard to do that community involvement,” said Pike.
“Hopefully, when COVID gets more under control, we can start getting more active with the community, and doing more community events.”
So far, Pike has enjoyed his experience in Coronation.
“This is the smallest community I’ve lived in in my whole life,” said Pike.
“I love the community. It’s a great community. (People are) helpful and respectful.”
This is the final piece in a four-part series looking at rural policing in East Central Alberta.