• PROMOTIONS, RETIREMENTS, RECOGNITION •
After 34 years of service, Deputy Chief Constable Laurence Rankin of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) retired. He joined VPD in 1987 after completing the Criminal Justice Program at Langara College. Throughout his career, he held numerous positions: constable, detective, sergeant, staff sergeant and inspector. He also worked in Patrol, the South Crime Unit, the Emergency Response Team, the Justice Institute of B.C. Police Academy as an instructor, in the Domestic Violence and Criminal Harassment Unit, the Home Invasion Task Force, the Sex Crimes Unit, the Polygraph Unit, the Homicide Unit, the Professional Standards Section, Major Crime Section and Personnel Services. He was promoted to deputy chief constable in 2016, assigned to the Investigation Division. Rankin officially retired in May.
At their general meeting in April, Serving with Pride announced the appointment of four new board members. Stephen Reid, the executive director for the Police Association of Ontario, was announced as co-chair of the organization. Carmen Wong, who began her career with the Toronto Police Service in 2005 and is currently the LGBTQ2S liaison officer for the Toronto Police Service, was appointed to the board of directors. Noah Clouthier and Jesse Castle were also both appointed as youth directors.
After acting in the role for a year, the Cape Breton Regional Police Service announced the official appointment of Robert Walsh as police chief in April. Walsh has been a police officer for 30 years and has worked on patrol, in traffic services, street crime and drug enforcement, and major crime investigations and emergency response. He also served briefly with the RCMP. Most recently, he served as deputy chief before being named acting chief in February 2020.
Fiona Wilson, a 22-year-member of the Vancouver Police Department, was promoted from superintendent to deputy chief constable in April. Wilson joined the department in 1999, where she worked as a patrol constable in several operational districts. Early in her career, she also worked as an investigator in the Sex Crimes Unit and on two major projects that successfully disrupted regional organized crime groups. She was promoted to sergeant in 2009 before returning to the Operations Division and later assigned to the Professional Standards Section. In 2012, she joined the Major Crime Section as a sergeant and went on to work with the RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit as a team leader in charge of an international drug investigation. In 2016, she was promoted to staff sergeant and served in the General Investigation Section. Upon promotion to inspector in 2017, she worked as the officer-in-charge of Court and Detention Services. Wilson implemented improvements in training and policy and led a comprehensive review of the Jail Manual of Operations. She was promoted to superintendent in March 2019 and represented the VPD on secondment as a deputy chief officer with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia. In January 2021, she became superintendent in charge of Investigative Support Services. In her new role as deputy chief constable, Wilson will head up the Investigation Division within the VPD.
Lynn Noftle was promoted from inspector to superintendent of the Vancouver Police Department in April. She began her career with the VPD in 1998 after graduating as valedictorian of her class at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. She worked as a constable in District 1 for five years before being transferred to the Drug Unit. Noftle spent four years as a school liaison officer and returned to patrol as an acting sergeant for the Beat Enforcement Team in 2011. In 2012, she was promoted to sergeant. She was selected to develop and implement the Community Safety Program in 2013 and transferred to the Mental Health Unit in 2014. Noftle was then promoted to staff sergeant in 2016, assigned to the Youth Services Section. She was promoted to inspector in 2017 and was transferred to her current position as inspector of District 2 in 2019.
If you have an officer in your agency recently promoted or retiring or an individual you wish to have recognized (major award or recently deceased) you can let Blue Line magazine know by emailing: bcharlebois@annexbusinessmedia.com.
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