N.W.T. community bids warm farewell to 2 RCMP officers who made a difference
RCMP Sgt. Kevin Devoe, left, and Const. Andrew Nunez, right, at a farewell barbecue held for them in Fort Providence, N.W.T., this week. The two officers made a big impression on the local community and many residents are sad to see them move on. (Submitted by Erin Sullivan)
Sgt. Kevin Devoe was startled at first when he heard what people were calling him in Fort Providence, N.W.T., where he’s been the RCMP detachment commander for the last several years.
“I was kind of just stopped in my tracks for a moment and like, ‘what? What do you mean ‘grandpa’ or ‘uncle’?'” Devoe said.
He soon realized they were terms of endearment, and evidence of the trust and respect he’d earned in the small, remote community. To many other people in Fort Providence, he’s just known as Kevin.
“I will miss that,” Devoe said. “The people are amazing here.”
This week, community members in Fort Providence organized a farewell barbecue for Devoe and another beloved RCMP officer who’ll also soon be leaving the community for another posting elsewhere, Const. Andrew Nunez.
At the farewell barbecue held this week for the 2 officers.
The Deh Gáh Got’ı̨ę First Nation, along with the Hamlet of Fort Providence, hosted the farewell event. People cooked, baked cakes, and gifted each officer a pair of beautiful moosehide slippers.
“Right from day one, these two officers stood out to us in the community,” said Deh Gáh Got’ı̨ę Chief Michael Vandell, about Devoe and Nunez.
“They started coming out on a regular basis whenever the community was gathering. You know, they mingle with us, they go to the school and they help the kids. And on their time off, you know, they’re at the feasts, they’re at the hall, they’re at the rink.”
Vandell said the two officers would help organize the annual Christmas parade, or sometimes drive elders home with their groceries.
Devoe pretends to arrest Nunez, dressed up as the Grinch, as the RCMP Safety Bear (Const. Joris Bourgeois) looks on. (Submitted by Kevin Devoe)
He believes that kind of community connection has had a big impact. People respond differently when they know police officers as people, he said.
“Members sort of keep that in mind, you know, next time they want to break the law or something like that. They know Kevin and Andrew are going to be at the picnic, the barbecue, you know,” Vandell said.
“And so it does help.”
Nunez, left, and Devoe, right, with Deh Gáh Got’ı̨ę First Nation Chief Michael Vandell.
Community member Alayna Krutko, who helped organize the farewell event this week, said Devoe and Nunez worked hard to be more visible and accessible, and to learn about the community and its history. She said Devoe had an open-door policy every day at the local detachment, so anybody could drop in for whatever reason, “even just to have a coffee.”
“They create a bond, right? They create trust and it promotes a friendship. And it’s a little easier to talk with them and be around them,” Krutko said.
“When we get good RCMP like that, it’s really sad when they have to go.”
Krutko says there’s a lot of “mistrust and uncomfortability with the RCMP in the smaller communities,” and she describes the two officers’ work as a form of reconciliation.
Devoe agrees, and says building trust was his main priority.
“Reconciliation is a daily activity, it comes in many sizes,” Devoe said.
“Building trust, it helps us solve so many things that have gone on in the past here, that we’re able to resolve much more quickly.”
Devoe eats an ice cream and wears a fake nurse’s hat at an event put on by the local health centre in Fort Providence.
He says the keys to building trust are simple — listening, and “just being kind.”
And even though police sometimes have to deal with tense or volatile situations, Devoe said he’s never had any major challenges in Fort Providence.
“What I get mostly back from people is, ‘Kevin, I know you’re only doing your job,'” he said. “So with that trust, when the trust is built in, it makes our job easier, for sure.”
Devoe and Nunez opening gifts at this week’s farewell barbecue
Devoe’s now planning to move back to Nova Scotia, where he has family, and finish his policing career there.
Nunez, still early in his career, will now be transferring to Airdrie, Alta., just outside Calgary. Airdrie’s population is about 94,000 people, so it will be a big change from quiet Fort Providence.
“I’m very nervous, to be honest. I’m going to miss the North,” Nunez said. “I highly doubt I’m going to get this same relationship.”
Nunez is now heading to a new posting in Airdrie, Alta.
He says his passion is social work, and it’s what he did before joining the RCMP. He also says his father went to residential school and so he grew up hearing the stories and understanding the trauma from that experience.
He says working in Fort Providence, and for a boss like Devoe, allowed him to be himself even while in uniform.
“Besides the knowledge of what I learned of how to do my job better, I think this post reminded me, you know, continue to stay the same,” he said.
“You know, continue to be kind.”