Medicine Hat police chief Alan Murphy gives his speech after being sworn in as the 24th chief in Medicine Hat Police Service history Friday afternoon in a ceremony held at the Cypress Centre.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Police Service had its 124th anniversary Jan. 13, and on Friday, one week later, officially named Alan Murphy the 24th chief of police in MHPS history.
Murphy was sworn in as chief in a ceremony held at the Cypress Centre, with city councillors, Mayor Linnsie Clark, MP Glen Motz and other members of government and police service in attendance. Elder Charlie Fox of Kainai First Nation, blessed the change-of-command ceremony.
In his remarks, Murphy said the significance of his position is not lost on him.
“During my tenure in this role, I will strive to enhance the professional and progressive policing reputation the organization is already recognized for,” Murphy said.
“I’m thankful to have this role, I’m thankful I’ve been accepted into this community as I have and I realize I need to earn the trust of the community and the members,” Murphy said. “I don’t expect that to come overnight. All of that takes time, so I will earn that trust.”
A 27-year veteran of the Edmonton Police Service, Murphy came to Medicine Hat for the first time in October to take over as interim chief until a permanent was hired. At Dec. 5’s city council meeting, councillors approved his hiring – recommended by the city’s police commission – by a 9-0 vote.
During the ceremony, remarks were provided by Clark, Motz, police commission chair Ted Rodych and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Security and Director of Law Enforcement Marlin Degrand.
“One of the things that struck me about chief Murphy and all of council was how open and clear he was in communicating with us during our budget deliberations,” Clark said. “He also reflected the importance of communication to him in the first article that was published, announcing he was going to be the police chief and that’s very gratifying. That communication can get us really far and I’m looking forward to having many discussions and working collaboratively for the benefit of our city.”
During his speech Murphy spoke to his first priorities as police chief, ensuring the wellness of all MHPS members and finding solutions to the crime and disorder often associated with the vulnerable community in Medicine Hat.
“Members cannot effectively care for their communities, if they also need care,” Murphy said.
“We need to to find solutions to the increase in crime and disorder that’s often linked to those in our community suffering from mental health issues and addiction … We can not arrest our way out of this. It will take co-operation with our partners, social agencies and our communities to find lasting solutions.”
In a followup interview with the News, Murphy addressed how he plans to help the vulnerable community.
“We have people in our communities all throughout the province suffering from mental health and addiction. If you arrest your way out of it, you’re just feeding the cycle and it never gets better,” Murphy said. “What we need to do is work with all of our partners, it’s a community issue for all of us. We need to find solutions, hopefully to get people out of the cycle again, to treat, get them well and give them some housing.”
He intends to reach out to community leaders within the city and let them inform him what they need and how they can help to avoid falling into old methods.
“The old school policing way they did it, is we told communities what they were going to get my way, and the new way of policing, is to ask communities, ‘What do you need? How do we get there?’ That’s my plan,” Murphy said.
During his speech Murphy told a story about when his two daughters were told he had received the position in Medicine Hat and would be moving here full time. His youngest daughter Erin said she approved of the move if they got a puppy. They’ll pick up Remy the miniature schnauzer Saturday morning.
