Nanaimo RCMP officer Andrew Burton has taken the top seat at Nanaimo RCMP detachment as officer in charge with the new rank of superintendent.
Burton, who grew up in Port Alberni, brings 30 years of policing experience to his new role, drawn from his work in serious crimes, Indigenous policing, drug enforcement, street crime, general duty and 12 years with the RCMP emergency response team.
The promotion from inspector to superintendent makes the position official since Burton has already been the detachment’s acting officer in charge since 2023.
Burton was born in London, England, but his family immigrated to Canada and settled in Port Alberni where he spent most of his formative years, notes a biography provided by Nanaimo RCMP. He started preparing to become a Mountie in 1993 when he attended French-language training in Montreal prior to RCMP training in Regina.
Early postings took him to Smithers, Bella Coola, Kamloops and back to Bella Coola, where he was promoted to corporal and detachment commander. Burton and his young family – his children are now adults – moved to Merritt next, then Port Alberni, a posting in Quesnel for promotion to sergeant in charge of operations and eventually the detachment’s commander as a staff sergeant. After Quesnel he earned the commission rank of inspector and posted to RCMP headquarters in Regina and finally to Nanaimo as officer in charge of operations support prior to taking over the position previously held by Supt. Lisa Fletcher.
As for what's to come in his new role, Burton plans to keep current policing programs moving forward and evolving, but recognizes shifting conditions in the community can require the detachment to quickly pivot its priorities.
“Every new commander has a different take on things,” he said. “Certainly, Lisa’s vision was a shared vision with me, but times change and it’s an always-evolving process, so to suggest we’ve figured out, we’ve got the magic key, we’re good for the next three or four years; it changes quarterly, if not sooner, monthly sometimes. Our priorities are always shifting and, of course, they’re dependent on the resource levels and what the priorities are with our partners.”
Burton notes there are issues in the downtown core. Homelessness, addictions and mental health are chronic social issues that are not specifically policing concerns, he said, but drive police approaches to dealing with them. The mental health liaison officer and psychiatric nurse team program, started in 2020, continues.
“They go out and deal with clients in crisis and it sort of expedites the process and gets them the help that they need,” Burton said. “We see the value in that. We’ve had some great success with it … I’d like to start with at least one more, another team, a psychiatric nurse and another trained RCMP officer to take on that role.”
Ideally, the superintendent said he'd like the detachment to have four teams, one for every watch, but that goal is finance and resource dependent.
Recently started programs also include the special investigative target enforcement unit and a downtown engagement unit.
“And we’ve seen some real success with that,” he said. “It’s a bit strategic … if we’re seeing, for example, shoplifting or street-level drug trafficking, things like that, this is a team that can go in and do surveillance – they’re all surveillance trained – and do the quick hit and follow up on that.”
The downtown engagement unit is a team of officers deployed in “hot spots," primarily in downtown or the University Village area, and partners with Nanimo's community safety officers and bylaw officers to deal with social disorder issues.
The SITE unit is also responsible for the repeat violent offender intervention initiative that focuses on prolific violent offenders, and the detachment is continually tweaking the programs to make the units more efficient and effective.
“My vision is for Nanaimo RCMP to continue to provide exceptional policing services that keep our communities safe and secure,” Burton said.
The detachment’s annual performance plan, developed each year with municipal and provincial partners, determines the detachment’s priorities for the coming year. Public safety, crime reduction, repeat offenders, drug trafficking, youth liaison work, gang violence, organized crime, First Nations engagement and inclusion, and physical and mental health for police officers are all part of the performance plan.
“These are our marching orders for the year … We don’t make it too prescriptive because we recognize that it could change mid-stream, but throughout our [performance plan], that’s where we’ll use that as our road map to put our resources,” Burton said.
Becoming a Mountie was a childhood dream, he said, and after 30 years of policing he recognizes that most jobs can lose their polish, but even though there have been some tough times for policing over the years “it still hasn’t lost its shine for me” and the people working in the detachment are all there for the right reasons, to help people.
“As corny as it sounds, I love looking at policing through the eyes of our new members because it revitalizes us as senior members,” he said, adding that it's a reminder of the “job that we were all attracted to.”
“We see people usually on their worst days,” Burton said. “My dad said to me ... I think he knew about policing, he’s very wise and he recognized that this was going to be a tough row to hoe ... He said, ‘No one’s ever happy when the police show up. You want to be loved? You join the fire department. Everyone’s happy when they show up.’"
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog issued a statement congratulating the superintendent on his new role as officer in charge of the detachment, and thanking him for his leadership over the past year acting in that capacity.
“With his decades of diverse experience and commitment to public service, we are confident that he will continue to uphold the safety and security of our community with the utmost professionalism," the mayor said.