The City of Lloydminster contracts with the RCMP to provide policing service units to the city. The most significant presence residents see are uniformed officers out in the community in marked vehicles, photos or stories in the local media or if residents drive by the detachment and see it.
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A part of this contract that is not as nearly noticeable is the assistance from some units that are based outside the city but often come into town to assist with policing.
An easy example of a unit that gets noticed is our Air Services when the RCMP helicopter is flying overhead. We will engage this resource for various reasons but when they come to work in, or rather over, Lloydminster, the city doesn’t get an invoice for them.
Major Crime Units will come into town when we have homicides and once they arrive, they take control of the investigations. These investigations take hundreds and often thousands of hours of work by a team of specialized investigators. Again, the city does not receive an invoice to pay for this service.
Some of these units are not used very often by us but are still always available. We will get assistance from our behavioural sciences group who will do analysis of offenders relating to the risks they may pose in addition to other analytical work required for some investigations.
Another group we utilize for their expertise is our Auto Theft group. These folks know vehicles and can assist in virtually any way that involves any type of vehicles, including motorcycles and ATVs.
A group that gets engaged with every report of a missing person is our Missing Persons Unit. These specialized investigators assist with all aspects of a missing persons file starting at the onset as these are priority investigations. They will review our investigation and provide guidance to ensure everything that can be done to locate a person is being done. These are a type of investigation that can span years and the Missing Persons Unit remains involved throughout.
Our Real Time Operations Center is available 24 hours a day to assist with such things as pursuit logistics, locating and engaging policing resources for us, providing critical real-time information for critical incidents and providing incident guidance while linking us to necessary remote resources.
We also utilize other services such as a Legal Application Support Team. They can assist with us obtaining various types of authorizations, including search warrants, polygraph experts, child exploitation investigators, Emergency Response Team, Clandestine Lab Enforcement and Response Team and the training unit that organizes and hosts training events.
A lot of city residents are not likely aware of resources that we have access to and without additional cost to the city. These experts or specialized services allow us to provide a comprehensive service to the City of Lloydminster far beyond the typical traffic enforcement or attendance to routine calls for service.
The next time you see an officer, know there is a lot more supporting that officer than meets the eye.
– Staff Sgt. Jerry Nutbown, is the NCO in charge of the Lloydminster RCMP detachment’s General Investigation Section. Stay tuned for future articles from the Lloydminster RCMP.
This column was originally published in the April 17, 2025, edition of the Meridian Source.
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