Langley’s top Mountie looks to promising future

By Supt. Adrian Marsden/Special to Langley Advance Times

As I enter my third year at the Langley RCMP detachment, I am continually encouraged and honoured to represent our detachment officers, civilian support staff, and many volunteers.

This, combined with Langley’s committed community groups and invested residents, makes coming to work each day a pleasure, and motivates me to work towards improvements for current challenges.

It is an exciting time for Langley.

As an attractive community for people to live, work, and grow, it has stimulated rapid expansion – bringing new homes, community events, business ventures, immigration, and a developing infrastructure.

Having served in multiple communities in B.C. and Alberta during the past 30 years, I can confidently recognize that the appeal of Langley has benefitted our RCMP detachment in multiple ways.

This includes working to develop partnerships for modernized initiatives.

We are fortunate for the readiness of our community’s schools, hospitals, and other social support agencies to work with us.

We strongly value the acceptance from the Kwantlen and Katzie First Nations in allowing us to work in their communities and upon their traditional territories.

We maintain enormous respect for the Lower Fraser Valley Aboriginal Society whose commendable, important community work instills growing optimism.

The strong supports, hard work, and dedication from our local governments have invigorated our officers in their duties and to appreciate the community in which many of us live, and in which we are all fortunate to work.

In 2023, the 150th anniversary of the RCMP, we are in unprecedented times.

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Never before have we had to face the specific challenges of COVID-19, a global trend towards increased homelessness, drug addiction, mental health issues, and the worldwide drift towards human resourcing pressures in health care and public safety professions.

There is no doubt that these have caused massive impacts on Langley’s businesses and residents, alike.

The Langley RCMP detachment has set its current focus on: 1) increasing policing visibility; 2) working with partners to support persons experiencing homelessness and mental health issues; 3) planning with public safety partners to address major emergencies as we saw with the pandemic and extreme weather/flooding, as well as for significant community changes including the incoming SkyTrain development; and 4) strengthening our detachment’s capacity to respond to Langley’s growth and diversity by maintaining resourcing standards and assuring diversity within our ranks to represent the various communities we police.

Positive signs are evolving since the onset of COVID-19, including the grand opening of the new North Langley Community Police Office, and the imminent re-opening of the Aldergrove Community Police Office.

The Langley Community Policing Team will be hosting a three-day youth camp for elementary students in July.

We are also happy to be supporting an ever increasing number of community festivals and sporting events this summer.

My encouragement for the years ahead most notably stems from the new people joining our detachment.

Despite the many pressures facing policing today, I am constantly amazed at the overall level of professionalism, ethical standards, and skills of the people the RCMP consistently attracts.

I have only seen the quality of our officers grow. The RCMP’s acceptance of criticism and willingness to change and develop, together with the fact that policing remains an important, challenging, and rewarding profession, creates a formidable drive to continually maintain effectiveness.

This together with the strengths that the community of Langley already brings, drives me with a permanent sense of optimism for the future – say the next 150 years.

– Supt. Adrian Marsden is the Langley RCMP Officer in Charge

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