A 16-year veteran of the force, Sgt. Kent Dahl joined the Airdrie RCMP as head of the General Investigative Section (GIS) at the beginning of September.
Dahl comes to the Airdrie detachment from Calgary where he worked with the RCMP’s Federal Policing Serious and Organized Crime Team for two-and-a-half years.
Prior to working in Calgary, Dahl spent almost eight years working for the detachment in Red Deer.
“In Red Deer I had several duties,” Dahl said. “I worked for six months on the watch as a uniformed member. Then I was in the General Investigation Section, (the street team,) for about three-and-half years. Then I worked in the federal drug section in Red Deer for about four years.”
While working with Red Deer’s street team, Dahl said he was able to become proficient at developing confidential informants, an expertise he plans to bring to Airdrie.
“Something that I’ve done throughout my career is cultivation of confidential informants and building criminal intelligence that we can actually follow up on,” he explained. “It has to do with (conducting) proactive investigations, instead of being reactive. Those are always the best type of investigations because we can actually deal with crimes that we can prevent.”
Dahl said Airdrie already has a confidential informant program that he plans to build and expand.
Inspector Gordon Sage, who commands the Airdrie detachment, said Dahl will be a great addition.
“He comes from one of the Federal organized crime teams that focused a lot on large drug units so he has a massive amount of experience with organized crime and the drug world,” Sage said. “He also has experience in our GIS section so he comes with a wealth of experience that’s going to help Airdrie.”
Dahl has been a resident of Airdrie for the last four years and decided to make the move to Airdrie RCMP. He said he’s familiar with some of the challenges facing the city in terms of policing a rapidly growing population.
“We currently have nine staff in the GIS,” he said. “Is it enough? I’d say it’s adequate but if you asked me if we could use more members, I wouldn’t say ‘no.’”
Sage said he has requested the addition of more officers at the Airdrie detachment but did not want to release the exact number he has asked for. Sage said he presented his request to the City Finance Advisory Committee in September and it should come to City council in October. According to Sage, the detachment receives 90 per cent of its funding from the City and 10 per cent from the Federal government.
Airdrie RCMP’s biggest challenge is dealing with growth and the increase in crime that can bring, particularly because Airdrie is so close to Calgary, according to Sage.
“Criminals think Airdrie is an easy mark. Getting out of the city is quick because of the highway,” he said.
“It’s key that we integrate our operations with the Calgary Police Service (CPS).”
Dahl said he agreed and planned to continue to work closely with CPS on investigations involving criminals who like to operate in the Calgary region, including Strathmore, Airdrie and northeast Calgary. Dahl said many of these involve drug-related offenses.
Due to the nature of his job, Dahl said he likes to keep a low profile, preferring not to be photographed or release information about his private life.
“My area of expertise is really investigations that can be serious in nature,” he explained. “I have a good background in dealing with property and drug-related offenses that will hopefully deter future offenses.”
