By Charlene Tebbutt

Prince Albert Police

Police service names new inspectors, rounds out admin team

Jan 31, 2019 | 9:09 AM

This article was updated at 2019-01-31 15:26.
The Prince Albert Police Service has promoted three of its officers to top jobs, rounding out the force’s new administration team.

Officers Brent McDonald, Tadd Kellett and Craig Mushka have been named inspectors with the police service, taking over their new roles last week. Chief Jon Bergen announced the appointments Wednesday.

In the past, the force has only had two inspectors in administrative roles, but Bergen said there was room for a third to help manage day-to-day business.

“My observation was that the deputy chief should be managing the inspectors,” Bergen said. “We didn’t create a new position, we took an existing position, we took it out of scope … to fill that void.”

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McDonald, a 23-year member of the police force, takes over as inspector in charge of patrol. The division includes four platoons, each with one staff sergeant, two sergeants and 10 constables.

McDonald has experience in patrol, drug investigations, major crimes and SWAT, and was most recently a staff sergeant in charge of the Criminal Investigation Division before coming on as an inspector. He said it was a difficult choice to leave his previous post but he is looking forward to some new challenges.

“Coming over to the patrol side is like getting a breath of fresh air and I can reconnect with some of the members that I haven’t worked with lately,” McDonald said.

With a military background and just over 20 years on the police force, Kellett has worked on patrol, with the traffic division and SWAT. As inspector in charge of support services, Kellett will oversee the K-9 unit, special weapons and tactics team, negotiating team and recruitment, along with traffic, community services, bylaw and victim services. He will also be responsible for managing the police service’s vehicle fleet, uniforms, equipment and building maintenance.

“The new role’s exciting because I’ve always wanted to be a police officer, and now you’re a leader amongst your members, and to be a leader is always exciting,” Kellett said.

Mushka joins the administrative team as inspector in charge of the Criminal Investigation Division, which includes historical crimes, child protection, identification, intelligence unit, combined forces and special enforcement teams, dispatch and the Internet Child Exploitation Unit. Mushka joined the Prince Albert Police Service in 2001 and has experience working on patrol, K-9, major crimes and SWAT.

“It’s also a little overwhelming at times, but I’m definitely looking forward to it,” he said Wednesday.

Bergen said the new appointments make for a well-rounded administrative team at the top. The last year has seen rebuilding within the police force since former Chief Troy Cooper’s resignation was announced one year ago.

Bergen took over as acting chief in July before being officially appointed last month.

“It was a really challenging time over the last year to fill a new role, but also to fill a new role without support in the other roles,” he added.

The police service will now work to review “operations across the board,” he said, to see what works and what can be improved.

The review has already led to change within the force’s four patrol platoons. A second sergeant has been added to ensure “a strong supervision and management model” on each of the four platoons, Bergen added.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt