More than three decades ago the New Westminster Police Department hired a former Mountie who was looking to move back to the Lower Mainland.
The relative rookie started his career in New West like any other police officer, at the bottom of the ranks. Over the next 34 years, however, he moved from constable to staff sergeant to inspector and in March of 2011 he became deputy chief constable, the department’s second-in-command.
That office is Laurin Stenerson, and on June 30 he is retiring from the New Westminster Police Department.
Stenerson, who grew up just across the border in Burnaby, has had a long career in New Westminster. He was on the ground when the Royal City was going through some growing pains in the late ’80s and early ’90s, he was on scene at some of the city’s darkest moments, and has witnessed how much the department, and city, have changed for the better.
“As a supervisor, he would want you to challenge yourself and push yourself, which sometimes meant he gave us a lot of freedom,” Chief Dave Jones said when asked what it was like working with Stenerson over the years.
Jones and Stenerson’s history goes way back to the first night they ever worked together. Stenerson, a constable at the time, was supervising Jones, then a volunteer reserve constable, when he asked Jones what he wanted to do with his life.
“He tells me, and I don’t remember it this way, he says I looked over at him and said, ‘Oh, I’m going to be your boss one day.’ I don’t think that really happened but he keeps accusing me of that,” Jones laughed.
On July 1, Insp. Dave Jansen will take over Stenerson’s position. The Record met with Stenerson the week before his retirement to talk about the deputy chief’s career and what plans, if any, he had for his retirement.
Q&A:
How did you get your start in policing?
I started with the RCMP back in 1979. I went to Depot and after my recruit training I went to Llyodminster, Saskatchewan/Alberta, and it was an excellent learning experience. I did about 18 months there and decided to come back to the province of B.C. and applied to New Westminster and was very fortunate to get on in September of 1981.
Why did you leave the RCMP?
You were pretty fixed back then. I was stationed in F division, which was Saskatchewan, so I knew the majority of my career would be in Saskatchewan, and don’t get me wrong, I love the RCMP, but circumstances dictated that I come back here.
What was it like when you first started in New West?
When I first joined, the city was hopping, there’s no other way to describe it. I think we had the most bar seats per capita in the province, so it was an interesting time. We were extremely busy.
(SkyTrain) brought a whole new challenge to the city. The influx of people coming in and out and the easy access, and again, it’s good for people for work but it also brought the transients and criminal activity, which, I think, sort of caught us off guard, so we really had to bare down on that and start doing enforcement in that area. I was here when we had the influx of crack cocaine, which hit the city hard.
How have things changed since then?
It’s totally different, it’s just unbelievable. The reasons behind it, I can tell you, is as a police agency we’ve been very effective in dealing with crime. I think we’ve been extremely proactive. We’ve integrated, where integration is good. Another thing is working with the city. We’ve worked very well with the city in terms of the integrated service teams. … We’re really trying to work as a team and I think that’s why we’re having this success in the city, (why) we’re having the growth in the city and the leadership that the city has had over the years with the mayors, it’s been really positive. I just can’t wait to see what the city looks like 10 years from now.
So what does a deputy chief constable do?
I look at the operational aspects of what’s happening in the organization. I have three inspectors that report to me directly, one in our major crime support services, one in our admin section and the other is our patrol division, and again, they’re very capable people and they just report to me. We do a lot of planning and research, we do (have) some human resource issues we deal with occasionally. It’s a really all-encompassing job, and then when the chief is away I assume his responsibilities.
What was your favourite position in the department?
They always say the best time of your career is when you’re working patrol on the road, and I did have some outstanding times. Every police officer will tell you, the beginning is always, probably, the best, because as you move up you become more … of an administrator and supervisor, but when you’re a constable on the road, that is a fun time. Without any doubt.
Was policing everything you expected 36 years ago?
You know what? It was more. I would not change it for the world. I’ve met so many great people, I’ve experienced a lot of interesting things over the years, some good, some bad, but it’s been such a fulfilling career.
(Laughs) I think I joined the police department just because I was in between jobs at the time and I never really imagined what it would be (like), I never imagined I would be here. It’s just been unbelievable, to be honest (laughs). Unbelievable.
What are you going to miss the most?
Everybody says this but it’s true – the people, the majority of the people (laughs). It’s going to be the people I worked with … both sworn and civilian because sometimes we focus on the sworn members of the organization but I can tell you this, the civilian members are critical. They are an important cog within the wheel, and I’ve worked with some outstanding ones over the years at various levels of organization.
Any investigations that still haunt you?
There’s a couple, one was Megan Gunderson. I was the initial investigators in that (case) and the only other one was Crysta David homicide that occurred in the mid ’90s where the young girl on Fourth Avenue was killed in her basement suite. I was involved in that one. Those two still (pause) I wonder.
What’s next for you?
I’m going to go enjoy some time off, and then I’m going to look at some other options. But I still have a real connection with the city. You’ll probably see me hanging around (laughs) – I won’t but I still have a lot of friends in this organization that I want to keep in touch with.
Anything else?
I’ve really enjoyed the last 34 years here, it’s flown. I’m looking forward to the new phase of my life.
