If Sean McPhee were still a television writer, his return to Creighton might make for an interesting script.
As an RCMP constable, he fell in love with Creighton during his first posting in the community in 2011-12. Now he is enjoying the rare opportunity to return to his former detachment as a sergeant.
“I actually turned down a promotional offer to compete for the opportunity to transfer back to Creighton,” says McPhee, who returned to the detachment last week following stints in Sandy Bay and Pelican Narrows.
McPhee already has a good grasp of some of the policing challenges facing Creighton. He cites an upswing in drug use, particularly prescription drugs.
“This issue is likely the root of many of the other crimes that we are seeing, such as the break and enters,” he says. “My approach to this has to be intelligence driven, and we have to get more community members on board to give us information about what they are seeing and hearing.”
As for his crew, McPhee says he looks forward to working with the five constables who police a region that includes Creighton, Denare Beach and Sturgeon Landing.
“They are all ‘switched on’ and have their own strengths, be it traffic, working with youth or gathering intelligence,” he says. “The job of being a detachment commander is always easier when you have members that want to get out there and be proactive.”
McPhee’s ascension to sergeant at the relatively young age of 39 is a sign that he himself has shown his share of ambition.
Originally from the small Alberta farming town of Stony Plain, he joined the Mounties in 2006, following in his father’s footsteps.
Prior to joining, McPhee was, among other things, a television scriptwriter. He co-wrote 60 episodes of Take Five, a humour-laden program shown to Chinese people to help them learn English.
Loosely based on Three’s Company, Take Five aired on China’s Star TV network and was meant to be supplemented by a textbook.
McPhee later owned and operated a commercial diving company on Vancouver Island before pursuing his long-held dream of donning the red serge.
He was posted first in New Hazelton BC, then Dease Lake BC. Creighton became his third posting for 11 months before he moved on to Sandy Bay and then Pelican Narrows.
McPhee says he will strive to make Creighton detachment as transparent to the public as possible, as he invites citizens to stop by to ask questions or follow up on matters of interest.
He says it’s too early to say whether he will make changes in how the detachment functions, though like any other detachment commander, he will put his own spin on the operations.
“We all have the specific areas that we like to concentrate on,” says McPhee. “However, if I find that current operations are working, and the detachment has seen success in the past years, then I won’t be looking to make any significant changes.”
Outside of work, McPhee describes himself as a normal guy.
“I take every chance I can get to go fishing or hunting,” he says. “I love to go for a ride on my ATV or skidoo. Other than that you will find me putting around the house or my yard.”
