New staff sergeant a familiar name for the community

The city's RCMP detachment has a new staff Sergeant, a familiar face and name for many Rupertites from a previous tour in the city's marine detachment a number of years ago.

Staff Sergeant Jim Vardy last worked out of Prince Rupert in 1998 when he commanded the Inkster patrol vessel out of Seal Cove, he has returned to the city and will be land based for his second tour of the city.
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His new duties have him managing the day to day operations of the detachment, supervising investigations and making sure that the city's constabulary is following the proper protocols and procedures.

Wednesday's Daily News provided a review of his career so far and his thoughts on what needs to be done locally as far a policing in the city is concerned, as well as a look at the issues that police officers are facing on the local scene these days.

Officer at home in Rupert - and on the open water
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Pages one and two

With 28 years of police service - five of those being in Prince Rupert - any in the community will be happy to hear that Jim Vardy is back working at the local RCMP detachment.

The new Staff Sergeant at the Prince Rupert RCMP began his career on general duties in the Kootenays, before moving to Campbell River and getting into that detachment's marine section.
Having grown up on the coast of Newfoundland, it's no surprise it was marine work that became his passion and he has spent 17 of his 28 years working with that section of the force in British Columbia.

When he made the move to Prince Rupert in 1993, Vardy had completed his sea time and attained his 350 Ton Master Certificate from Pacific Marine Training Camp in North Vancouver, and became Vessel Commander of the first RCMP catamaran in Prince Rupert, the patrol vessel Higgitt.

And when in 1996 the new RCMP vessel Inkster arrived, Vardy became one of the vessel commanders.

Following his five years of service in the community, he moved back down south to Victoria to work in the Marine Unit there, in order to be closer to the post-secondary educational institutions his teenage children wanted to attend.

When 2004 rolled around, Vardy took the prestigious position of small boat coordinator for RCMP "E" Division, and was responsible for the province's fleet of 91 boats and with ensuring all detachments had the proper equipment and training for their vessels.

In 2005, he decided to make the transition back to general duty and became the detachment commander in Massett on the Queen Charlotte Islands, a role that came with a fair bit more responsibility than he had held in the past.

"Everything falls on the boss' shoulder from the bottom up and the top down, so it's pretty challenging, especially in a small office," said Vardy.

"You have a community you have to satisfy, and we had Massett, Old Massett and Port Clements, and each place has different issues and different services they demand from the police."

That experience in Massett prepared him for his new position here in Prince Rupert, where as Staff Sergeant he oversees the operations of the detachment, ensuring police work gets done, supervising investigations and enforcing protocols.

Since he's been back in the community, Vardy has noticed the changes that have taken place since the mid '90s when the pulp mill was still running full-force and when the downtown core was thriving. He is impressed by the improvements to Cow Bay and the addition of weekly cruise ships, but says most of the policing issues faced by communities on the Queen Charlottes are rooted in the same soil as those in Prince Rupert.

"The problems of drug and alcohol abuse are number one in the Charlottes, and it's number one here," said Vardy. "As a result of that, we have domestic violence and regular violence, all stemming from substance abuse. Trying to mitigate that is a tough thing in this day and age, so we're hoping to involved the community in some of these things by rejuvenating our Citizens On Patrol program, attracting more auxiliary officers and rejuventating our community consulting groups."

With his wife back working in the same ministry office she was at during their previous posting, and their now-fully grown children happy to see them back in the community where they spent their high school years, Vardy couldn't be more content about being back in Prince Rupert. Asked how long he plans to stay, Vardy says he has "no exit strategy" and notes that by the time he completes four years in his new role he'll have the 32 years of service required for retirement.

"Right now, I'm not looking too much to the future, I'm just taking it one day at a time and enjoying working with the good group of members we have here," he said. "My wife and I are both kayakers, so we're out there on Sundays in the harbour. We like the North, we like the slower pace and nature knocking at our doorstep. A lot of people think we're crazy, but you don't rust - it's only a bit of rain."