The RCMP is facing staffing shortages across the country, but not here in Thompson.

Inspector Lewis, the officer in charge of the Thompson RCMP detachment, spoke to Arctic Radio News, and said that many members are happy to come to Thompson because of the diversity of the work they’ll have to do.

Lewis said that he’d rather have new members come to a detachment like Thompson, as the scope of work officers face here better prepares them for the future. He added that in many places officers won’t make an arrest or deal with many issues for extended periods, while it’s almost always busy here.

Inspector Lewis added that because many new officers come to Thompson for training, it allows the detachment to have additional resources.

He said that the best example of that there is a dedicated team locally that works on drug enforcement.