Chief Rod Knecht reflects on 39 years of police service

After nearly 40 years in the police service, Edmonton's chief of police says he's now busier than he's ever been and he likes it.

"It's an exciting time to be a chief of police because there's so much going on," Chief Rod Knecht told Mark Connolly in a sit-down on Monday. "The city is morphing."

• On the beat: inside look at Edmonton police on patrol

A huge part of that change comes from Edmonton's rapid expansion. According to Knecht, Edmonton can no longer go on with its small-town attitude, but must instead embrace its position as a growing metropolis, with a growing police force to match.

Knecht, a 35-year-veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has been overseeing that growth for four years now, ever since he retired from Ottawa.

"I thought I'd be slowing down a little bit and I can tell you quite candidly anything but I can say, as the chief of police, that I'm probably busier now than I was when I was as a senior deputy and overseeing all operations for the RCMP across Canada."

"This is an exciting job."

• On mobile? Listen to the interview here

A start on the wrong side of the law

Knecht didn't always want to be a cop. As a young man with a passion for cars and speed, he says he was far more likely to be found at the receiving end of justice than the one doling it out.

"I had a heavy foot and I managed to engage the local constabulary from time to time," he said of the handful of tickets he accumulated as a young driver.

Today?

"I still like to drive fast, but I'm more cautious now obviously and I certainly don't want to get picked up for speeding."

Knecht originally trained to become a pilot, but said he lost interest. It was at that point his mother suggested a career in law enforcement but when he first applied to the RCMP, he was told he was underweight and turned away.

He visited his family doctor for advice on how he could bulk up and was told to drink stout beer, which he did with pleasure. He also started working out with a set of weights his father bought for him.

When he applied to the RCMP once more, he was hired.

Even then, though, he said he always thought the job would be temporary. Then, "Bang, [it's] 35 years later and certainly lot of interesting times."

Jump Street connection

When asked about memories that stick out from his nearly four-decade career, Knecht responded with what sounded like the plot of an episode of 21 Jump Street.

"When I had three years service I weighed 141 lbs, I could not grow facial hair and one of the very first undercover operations I did you probably would not be doing this todaybut it was in high schools. I just looked like a high-school kid, and I was the bad high-school student," he said.

Posing as a drug dealer was not only a far cry from his own high school experience, Knecht said, but it also gave him new perspective on society and crime.

"It became not as black and white as I think it was for me historically," he said. "I think working undercover really gave me an opportunity to see the other side of life, the other side of society, and I think I became a better police officer as a result of that."

The experience also shaped how he policed his beat, and how he encourages officers with EPS to approach their job.

"You're not born bad. There are certain things that impact on you becoming a criminal or a bad person it's your upbringing, your family situation, societal situation, some of the events that happened to you so I'm not one of those people that says 'Everybody who breaks the law is a bad person.'

"I take the view now that we, the police, should focus on the worst of the worst, the people that are victimizing the public in general or those most vulnerable but there's other people that we've got to help get to a better place and jail is not necessary a better place.

"I think we, as the police, should be trying to keep people out of jail not putting people in jail."

The human side of policing

By the end of his career with the RCMP, Knecht said he had become insulatedin his role, having to wait weeks, months or even years for his recommendations to take effect.

Now, four years into the job as the Edmonton chief of police, Knecht said he enjoys seeing the impact of his decisions, "good, bad or otherwise" right away.

He also appreciates working on what he calls the "front-line" of the law, interacting with thecommunity to manage critical issues.

Asked about the most pressing challenges EPS is facing right now, Knecht listed increasing incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as extreme speeding(those going between 50 and 100 km/h over the posted speed limit) asissues foremost on his mind.

He is also concerned the force is not keeping up with the mushrooming downtown population and infrastructure.

"We are falling behind as far as responding to calls for service," Knecht said.

EPS tries to respond to serious calls for service within seven minutes at least 80 per cent of the time, he said,but right nowis managing less than 70 per cent.

"And that's got to be frustrating for the public. They call a police officer, they expect a police officer to show up right away and he doesn't and that's not good."

Knecht said he's looking forward to having the 49 new staff and officersapproved by the city trained and hitting the streets in 2016, just in time for the opening of the downtown arena.

"That's great that's going to help us."

As for the message he hopes the new recruits learn right away, Knecht had this to say: "Every contact with a member of the public is an opportunity to win them over, to create a positive impression, and that's what we want to see our people doing out there every single day."