Staff
The Rimbey RCMP Detachment welcomed their newest staff member last week in the form of Const. Luke Halvorson, who transferred here from Langley, B.C. where he spent three and a half years in general duty of the watch rotation along with another three and a half years in the Street Enforcement Unit, which targeted break and enters along with performing surveillance on auto theft suspects.
“I was born and raised in Edmonton and wanted to be a cop all my life,” Halvorson said. “My dad was a member of the Edmonton City Police, so I knew I wanted to be a policeman. I like the Mounties because they’re the big show.”
Married to his wife Amanda, the couple has two children including two-year-old son Jacob and nine-month-old daughter Emma.
As for his and his family’s first impressions of Rimbey, Halvorson said it was all good.
“It seems like a nice little town and everyone seems really friendly so far and close-knit,” he said. “My wife made the observation that shockingly, people stop for you here when you cross the street, which we’re not used to. It’s nice here and as long as there’s a few bad guys to catch, I’ll be happy.”
Actually, this isn’t Halvorson’s first visit to the community as he visited here as a youngster and returned to Edmonton with a new pet and namesake.
“When I was younger we actually came out here to buy a dog that we named Rimbey because we couldn’t think of any other name, so that’s my only other experience here, but the other members talk very highly of the town and the people in it, who they say are very friendly,” he said. “You can’t ask for much better. We’re very close to the lake, the mountains, close to Red Deer and the bigger cities. You get the small-town living, but you’re not too far from the big stuff.”
As for hobbies and what he does for fun, Halvorson said now that he’s got two kids, it’s pretty well a case of “not much”, but admitted he like skiing, watching television and getting outdoors when he can.
“I like watching hockey. I’m not the best playing it but I’ve always been an Oilers fan,” he added. “I like the Canucks too, after being out there for seven years, so for me it’s the Canucks and Oilers. That probably won’t be popular in this town because I’ve seen lots of Flames fans around.”
As for the future, Halvorson said he’s looking to do what he does best.
“I look forward to doing a good job and making some people happy and some people not so happy,” he said with a chuckle.