RCMP officers heading to the Olympics

Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star Published: January 28, 2010 6:00 PM

Local RCMP will be making their presence felt at the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics. More than 15 officers from the Vernon-North Okanagan detachment will be on hand to make sure things run smooth during the Games. “We will have some of our dog officers and dogs at the Olympics,” said Vernon RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk. “We will have some that will be deployed on the mountains because of their skiing abilities and some will be part of the ceremonial troops performing red serge duty.” A handful of North Okanagan officers are part of the Southeast District’s tactical team, that left more than a week ago. Their duty will be to help secure and search the Olympic venues.The remaining officers are scheduled to leave for Vancouver next week.

Despite the number of officers heading to Vancouver, Molendyk does not expect service in the North Okanagan to be impacted or affected. “Every week we send people off for training, holidays and sick leave,” said Molendyk. “We have to compensate for that, and we cover all training and all leaves.” Some of the local officers could be staying on after the Olympics to help with the Paralympic Games.