The
Rivers Police Service
Rivers
Police Department
A BRIEF HISTORY
Researched and written by Walter Chernos and Michael Turnbull
Submitted by Constable Brian English.
(Published in the Manitoba Yearbook, 1998)
Born in 1907 during the Grand Trunk Pacific Rail Road's push West, named
in honor of Grand Trunk President Sir Charles Rivers - Wilson, the
Village of Rivers emerged on the edge of the Canadian Prairies.
Policing in Rivers over the last 85 years has evolved in the same
manner
as many small Prairie Towns. There has been a blend of Municipal
Constables, Manitoba ProvinciaI Police and Royal
Canadian Mounted Police.
The first Rivers
Police Car
However, the one unique feature has been maintaining its municipal
police since before the town's incorporation in 1913 to present day.
The need for police was at the forefront in a 1908 meeting as village
founders recorded on their agenda a discussion on police
protection. The village early Constables appear to have been a
mix of fall and part time members. As early as 1909 Constable Howard
was
requesting Village Council to provide a "regular lock-up. Records show
various crimes occurring in Rivers, Robberies, Thefts, Assaults during
a time in which a “Frontier Mentality" prevailed.
By 1911, the organized village council was making local statutes to
control such things as order, morality, and animal control. Also
during this time, the village, which contained by now a large Railway
Yard complete with roundhouse,
was in the middle of a violent labour strike. As a result the
village had a double shooting at the local hotel, and during another
incident charges were laid on a Railroad Detective for assaulting a
local Special Constable.
During the teen years, crime continued, and new problems arose with the
appearance of the first automobiles. By-laws were passed by Council
regarding the licensing and control of automobiles with town limits. By
1917, the town had recorded its first automobile theft. It was also
during this time that Council began to strongly question paying the fee
of $1000.00 per year for police protection when only $31.50 in fines
were collected.
In the 1920's several
Constables came and went. Speed
limits of 10 mph were established and Council records show that two
"silent policemen" were purchased.
In the early 1930's, Rivers still maintained a Constable.
Numerous requests by Rivers Council are recorded requesting additional
assistance from the Provincial Police,
and later from the RCMP, for problems such as rowdiness on Halloween
and minors
driving in town. It would appear that between 1931 and 1938 Rivers was
without a regular Constable, this being attributed to the lack of funds
during the depression years.
In 1938 Council passed a resolution to look for a retired RCMP officer
to police the town. It was during this period that Harold TYERMAN was
appointed as Constable, given permission to carry a gun, and is
believed
to be the first uniformed Constable to provide policing to the town.
During tile 1940's Town Council continued to look for an ex-RCMP
officer
and repeatedly approached the Province about an RCMP Detachment.
1998
This was a period when the British Commonwealth Air Training plan had
located an airbase just south-west of Rivers. This brought 2,200
officers and men to Rivers from around the Commonwealth, during World
War II. The Airbase continued to operate until the early 1970's, when
it was taken over by the Department of Indian Affairs who used the
facility for a ten year period as a work training centre that closed in
the early 1980's. The Base was staffed with its own compliment of Air
Force Police, Provost Corps, and later OO-ZA-WE-KWUN Police, during
it's
time as a native training centre. However, Rivers was their playground.
1951 was the beginning of modem/professional policing in Rivers.
C. Calcraft, an ex-RCMP member with 20 years service, was hired as
Chief
Constable and remained with the town until late in 1955. Following
Chief Constable Calcraft's resignation, the town was policed for a
short period of time on a contract basis by Constables from Dominion
Patrol Service. By the spring of 1956, the town was being policed again
by its own constables.
On March 27, 1961 Chief Constable Walter Chernos a local man was hired
by the town over 60 applicants from coast to coast. Chief CHERNOS would
become the longest serving member of the Rivers Police Department with
31+ years of service to the town upon his retirement on July 31, 1992.
Chief Chernos was also the recipient of the Canadian Police Exemplary
Service Medal. It is interesting to note that in 1962, the town of
Rivers ratepayers association approached Council "wanting a relief
police officer for Constable Chernos (who had been on 24 hr. call for 2
years)". But, it would be years before this request would be seriously
considered and another Constable added. At
this time the town of Rivers had a population of 1700 people and the
Airbase had approximately 2,000.
Finally in 1979, the town hired a second Constable to assist in
policing. By 1994, a 3rd part-time constable was added to the staff,
increasing the authorized compliment to a Chief, two Constables, and
two Auxiliary Constables.
By 1950, the Rivers Police Uniform consisted of a dark blue forage cap,
dark blue tunic, dark blue pants, with light blue shirt. This basic
uniform was retained into the 1980's, with the exception of a brief
period in time in the
1960's when a tan summer uniform was worn. In the 1980's, a red stripe
was added to the forage cap and pants. The current Rivers
Police Uniform retains the dark blue pants and cap with the red stripe,
a navy blue shirt is worn by all members from Chief
to Auxiliary.
It is hard to imagine that until 1979 Rivers Police members were
expected to provide their own cars for patrol use. In 1979, a market
Ford Granada was purchased by the town for Police use.
It was dark navy blue with a door decal (reflecting the hat badge of
the day) with a light bar (cherries) on top. The light bar was hooked
to a quick disconnect coupler and the decals were magnetic so the car
could quickly be converted to
an unmarked unit. Presently, Rivers Police are authorized a fully
equipped marked Crown Victoria, white with unique graphics, and an
unmarked Crown Victoria.
Early communication was accomplished by persons calling the
Constable’s house and a "window blind down or up" method was used
for the Constable to know if he had a call waiting with his wife. This
was replaced with a
CB radio, and eventually a police band FM 2 way radio that included a
base station (still at the Constable's house), a mobile unit in the car
and a portable.
Communications remained this way until a new radio system was purchased
by the town and an auto-patch system from the phone to the radio was
unsuccessfully tried.
Currently Rivers Police utilizes an up to date Motorola scanning radio
system, which includes a base at the town office, mobile unit, and
portables for all members. Police are able to monitor all area agencies
including Fire, Ambulance, EMO, etc. A cellular phone is used to
directly receive
complaints and make phone calls while a member is on duty. E 911
Service was adopted for the town in February of 1998 and funding for
fleet net radios have been approved for this purpose and to maintain
communications with RCMP. Rivers PD also has its own CPIC terminal
linking them coast-to-coast with other police agencies and an in-house
computer system for records management and word processing.
The insignia of the Rivers Police Department has changed over the
years. There is no record of what the first Constables used for
identification. The first known early badges were simply a wreath with
the world "Police" attached by bars in the centre, and shoulder
insignia of
the time were matching Police
bars worn on the epaulet. By 1950 Rivers PD had adopted the Canadina
general issue police cap badge, which consisted of a large Maple Leaf
with a king's crown drawn over a beaver in the centre. Our first known
shield
shaped cloth shoulder patch reflects this design. A variety of bent bar
type shoulder patches were used from the 1960's to 1980’s, along
with a stamped stock die cap badge. In
the late 1980's a regional design cloth shoulder patch was adopted. It
contained the stock die cap badge insignia in the centre. In 1992 new
regional shaped
patches were designed along with custom tie, cap and wallet badges
which utilized the town of Rivers Seal. These are worn by all members,
gold patches and
badges being issued to the Chief and Constables, and silver patches and
badges being issues to the Auxiliary Constables.
 
Staff
Through the Years
Rivers PD Constables have been
assisted by Auxiliary Constables
since 1991. The Department's Auxiliary Constables
are unpaid, trained volunteers who assist in regular duties providing
additional manpower during peak times (nights, weekends, special
events). Theses dedicated volunteers have provided
thousands of hours of service to the town of Rivers, and receive
training and experience in exchange for their time. Many Rivers PD
members have gone on to other police careers with other police agencies
(Altona, Brandon PS, East St. Paul PS, Winkler PS, and the RCMP).
All Rivers Police Constables are graduates of the Brandon Police
Service recruitment training course (an internationally accredited
agency), meeting the standards of the Provincial Police Act. Regular
members are sworn in as
Manitoba Special Constables. Advanced training and recertification are
obtained through various sources: Brandon PS, RCMP, Winnipeg PS,
Manitoba EMO and the Canadian Police College.
Today, Rivers Police Department is a modem fully equipped police
department. It polices a town of 3 square miles containing 1200 people
which is considered the "hub" of the surrounding area. The town is
flanked on the Eastern
border by a Provincial Park complete with lake and cottage area and
town. The Department consists of a Chief Constable, two
Constables, and two Auxiliary Constables. Rivers is located
approximately 42 km North-West of the City of Brandon.
Constables
/
Chief Constables/Chiefs of Police - Town of Rivers 1909 - present:
1909-1910 Constable Howard
1911 Constable
J. Kifbank
1912 Constable
J. Reid
1913-1916 Chief Constable Walter King
1916 Constable
George Oliver
1919 Constable
C. Mathews
1920-1922 Constable C.H.Payne
1922-1924 Constable D.H. Gabe
1924-1925 Constable Archie Duncan
1926 Constable
C.H. Gabe
1926-1928 Constable Charles Blandford
1927-1928 Constable M.W. Coldicott
1929-1931 Constable D.H. Gabe
1931 Constable
J. Slevin
1938-1950 Constable H. Tyerman
1951-1955 Chief Constable
C.
Calcraft
1955 Constable
Ralph Foster
(Dominion Patrol)
1956 Chief
Constable
J. Godkin
1956-1957 Chief Constable
M.Nooman
1957-1961 Chief Constable
E.Watts
1961-1992 Chief Constable
Walter Chernos
1979-1988 Constable Roger Moran
1988-2006 Constable/Chief Constable
Michael Turnbull
1992-1998 Constable Marc Savy
1994-1995 Constable Bryan Maloney
1995-2001 Constable Jason Soltys
1998-2001 Constable Brian English
2002
Constable Chris Drosdoski
2002-present Constable Darryl Hodkin
2003- 2006 Constable Richard Mudge
2006- 2009 Chief Constable/Chief of
Police Lloyd Collister
2009- present Chief Constable/Chief of
Police Leon Flannigan
2009- present Constable Robert Futrell
2010- 2013 Constable Mike Foster
2016
-
Chief of Police - B.G. Klassen
2020-2024
Chief Lon Schwartz #55
Auxiliary/Special
Constables – Town of Rivers 1991 - present:
1991 Brian
English
1992-1995 Jason Soltys
1992-1995 Bryan
1993 John
Hawkins
1993-1994 Marc Arvisais
1994 Bernie
Seyferth
1994 Carrie
Vinthers
1995-1997 Michael Leben
1997-1998 Mike Sitko
1997-1999 Leon Kozak
1997-1999 Kevin Rossetti
1998-2000 Mike Temple
2001 Jay
Woloski
2000-2002 Ryan Hunt
2001-2003 Colby Argue
2002-2003 Daniel Carins
2002-2005 Kyle McCrae
2005 Devin
Bell
2003-2006 Andrea Cooke
2009-2010 Victor Erikson
2009-2010 Doreen Kobelack
2009-2011 David Sutherland
2009-2012 Adam Thompson
2011- 2012 Brent McIntyre
2011- present Dallas Scott
2013- 2015 Mike Dickson
2013- 2015 Justin Price
2012 - 2013 Danny Mann
2013 - Kristen Guspadarchuck
2013 to the present Darwin Drader #41
2015-2018 Jennifer Griffin
2014-2015 Slav Trokhym
2015 Andrea Kroeker
2015-2019 Brett Seib #46
2016- 2018 Max Tschuschba
2016-2020 Brett Morgan
2018 to 2020 Brittany Roque
Sgt. David Sutherland #50
Alec Anderson
2019-2022 Jerra Green #52
2019-2022 Dennis Rollins #53
2020-2024 Chief Lon Schwartz #55
2020-2021 Greg Dutchak #56
2020 – 2021 Ron Shingoose #57
2021-2023 Geoff Thiessen #58
2021-2023 Sohit Maini #59
2022 – Present Travis Lindsay #60
2022-2024 Clint Calcut – #61
2023-Present Joshua Pompana #62
2023-2024 Sgt. Daniel Gaignard #63
Auxiliaries
Kristen Guspadarchuk
Slav Trokhym
Max Tschuschba
Brett Seib
Brett Morgan
Riley Balcaen
Justin Comte
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Stozir:
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