Duncan MacDougall joined the police force in Regina in 1913 and rose through the ranks to become chief. His service the Regina Police Service totalled 40 years.
Richard Anderson 1953 – 1954
Richard Anderson was born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada, where he joined the Regina police force in 1915. From a new recruit up to chief of police, Anderson served the Regina Police Service for 39 years.
(credit: Off the Cuff. Regina City Police. 1963.)
Arthur George Cookson 1954 – 1971
Arthur George Cookson was a no-nonsense, forthright man. He believed strongly in his duty as a police chief to combat crime, and this frequently brought him into conflict with prosecutors, judges, and even the Board of Police Commissioners. A former 23 year veteran of the RCMP, Cookson also had a law degree which he used to challenge the existing criminal justice system, arguing for longer sentences and less bail for accused.
Coming straight from an RCMP training facility and backed by a high level of education, Cookson lost no time in overhauling the structure of his new force, including the creation of special departments for fraud, youth, and drugs, as well as introducing a rigorous new training system for officers. He was also responsible for the hiring of the first female police officer in Regina in 1957, arguing that the force was in desperate need of female officer, not only to help deal with female prisoners but to serve in departments such as Morality, and divisions dealing with youth. That same year, the school safety patrol program was reintroduced with Elmer, the safety elephant leading the way.
There was no shortage of controversy during Cookson’s time with the Regina Police Force; however, he never shirked from his duty to uphold what he believed to be right from the day he started until his resignation in 1971. Indeed, in his first week as chief, Cookson was faced with offers of bribes from no less than four men who were eager to keep their illegal liquor businesses in operation. He refused and set an honest tone for all officers in the force.
(credit: Keepers of the Law, Regina and District Old Time’s Association, 2005.)
Albert Huget saw a lot of change to the force over his ten-year tenure as chief of the Regina Police Service. One of the biggest changes was the construction of the new Police Headquarters building, completed in 1978, and which we are still in today. Huget also saw the implementation of “Zone Policing”, and a 10 zone system was put into operation in 1980.
Born in Saskatchewan, Huget joined the RCMP in April of 1938 and headed out to detachments in New Brunswick and British Columbia. At the time of his retirement from the RCMP, he was an Assistant Commissioner as Director of Organization and Personnel for the entire RCMP force.
Upon his retirement from the Regina Police Service, he is quoted as saying that he had a great “sense of personal satisfaction” over his time as chief and that he knew that Regina had “one of the most progressive and efficient police forces in the country”.
(credit: Annual Report. Regina Police Service. 1972, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981.)
Verner New began his service with Regina Police Service January 8, 1953, and rose to the position of police chief after 29 years of service. The “Cultural Liaison Program” (now Cultural Relations Unit) was created during New’s tenure, as was the Crime Stoppers program. New was particularly pleased with Crime Stoppers, calling it a “tremendous success”, which it certainly was. The newly formed program led to 124 cases being cleared and won an award from Crime Stoppers International for excellence in the “Broadcast” category, for a crime re-enactment produced for release to the media.
(credit: Annual Report. Regina Police Service. 1983, 1984)
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