CANMORE – Canmore has a new top cop.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Greg Tulloch is Canmore’s new detachment commander.
Tulloch, an RCMP officer with 23 years of experience, said when the Canmore position became available it was an easy choice to apply and eventually accept.
“I wasn’t necessarily scrambling for a promotion, but if the right spot came along – which it did – that’s what I was after,” he said.
“The mountains is where I spend my time. When I’m not working, it’s where I go. Career-wise, I was happy to be in Airdrie [RCMP] and it worked well for my family. I enjoyed the job and it was something I was good at. It wasn’t until there was a job posting for Canmore … and looking for the next step in a good community. When Canmore came up, I was very interested. I really wanted to be in the community.”
Tulloch grew up in Tisdale, Sask., where his dad was a long-time RCMP officer. After finishing high school, he went to Lethbridge Community College for its criminal justice program and then Athabasca University for a degree in criminal justice.
“It drew me because it was what was familiar since that’s what my dad did. … Right from when I graduated high school, I was drawn to policing and joined the RCMP,” he said.
One semester short of graduating Athabasca University, Tulloch was called to begin RCMP training in Regina and posted to Desmarais in northern Alberta for two years.
“I probably wouldn’t have chosen it at the time, but looking back I wouldn’t do it any other way because it prepares you for anything and everything,” he said of starting in Desmarais.
He went to Innisfail for five years followed by three years in Fort McMurray and joined the Airdrie detachment with stints in both its municipal and rural force.
In Airdrie, he was a watch commander for the municipal force for eight years and then the community liaison unit that oversees schooling visits, mental health and addictions, domestic violence and traffic. Tulloch assisted RCMP during the border blockade at Coutts, acting as a liaison between police and protesters due to past training, and testified at the trial earlier this year.
He went to Airdrie’s integrated rural unit, which included the Beiseker detachment, before applying for the Canmore position.
As a long-time police officer, he said he felt his breadth of experience in both rural and urban municipalities will help in leading Canmore’s detachment.
“Whether it’s small rural policing or a large municipality, I think it gives me a lot of different perspectives. I’d say I’m familiar with what a catastrophe looks like and know how to maintain perspective to not blow things out of proportion. I’ve dealt with big, I’ve dealt with small and all of that from the perspective of detachment policing,” he said. “I’m a local cop who understands how things work on this scale instead of dealing with things that are outside of normal detachment perspective. ... I think all of those things I’ve done leading up to now have put me in a good headspace for doing this.”
Tulloch takes over the detachment from Sgt. Jack Wrobel, who had been acting detachment commander for about a year since Staff Sgt. Ryan Singleton was promoted to the RCMP’s southern Alberta district office in Airdrie.
The Canmore detachment has 23 police officers with five civilian staff.
Tulloch said he aims to have community-focused policing that’s accessible to the public. Getting a better idea of policing needs in the community, he said property crime, traffic concerns and domestic violence – particularly with people coming and going from the community due to Canmore’s tourism appeal – are focuses.
“I’ve tried to make a point to be out in the community, walk around downtown, working with municipal enforcement as much as possible. It’s important people know who I am, [and] can talk to me as needed,” he said.
“I’m seeing, so far, a comfortable place for people to live, including myself.”
