Winkler Police Chief Receives Royal Send-Off

After 34 years, 121 days, Winkler Police Chief Rick Hiebert said goodbye to the service.

The well-wishing came pouring into the Winkler Police Service's Facebook page last week.

"This just continues to be emotionally overwhelming," Hiebert wrote. "I'm so humbled...  It has been an amazing journey and such a pleasure serving the community in this capacity. The years have flown by. It's hard to express the pride I feel in the men and women that make up our law enforcement community and work to keep us all safe. It was great to experience that and play just a small role in that team. A huge thank you to all the citizens of Winkler for all the support they've shown our police service...  I know that will only continue to grow."

Hired in 1983, Hiebert would take up the Police Chief mantle in 2000.

Before becoming chief Hiebert watched the police service lose members almost every year.

"That was something that had to be reversed," Hiebert says. "We needed to create an environment people enjoyed and wanted to stay."

One aspect of his first initiative gave officers room to specialize in areas of interest, including the development of new programs like the K-9 unit.

Since 2000, the force has grown with zero turnover. Under his watch, Hiebert also saw the first female hires last year.

"He was committed to the service, he was committed to the community," Police Board Chair Henry Siemens said of Hiebert. "He did a terrific job... we're very thankful and we're certainly going to miss him."

Hiebert says the best memories of his career are the moments of camaraderie among officers, "you go through a lot of incidents together and you have to have each other's backs."

Other highlights included, "catching people in the act, there's a lot of adrenaline," he says.

Hiebert's last day was March 29.