Corporal Geoff Applegate (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Officer in Charge

Melfort RCMP expected to have interim detachment commander for several months

May 12, 2023 | 3:54 PM

The Melfort RCMP are now in search of a new detachment commander, after Darren Simons retired last week.

In the meantime, they have turned over the officer in charge duties to Corporal Geoff Applegate.

Applegate assumed those positions over a week ago and has since been making his rounds to all the areas the detachment serves.

He told northeastNOW with the uncertainty of exactly how long his interim role will last, that he has to take it day by day, as it’s a challenge he’s been looking forward to, long before this all came about.

“At some point in my career, I guess I had planned or thought I would look at being a commander, but I guess I didn’t think it would come this soon. It’s not a position I will take on at this point in my career permanently, but it is something I’ll do in the interim, to help push us along through the summer and into the fall months,” said Applegate.

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“Down the road, once I feel I’ve got the complete toolbox and a good base, it’s something I will look for, but obviously my next step would be to be a sergeant, coming from the corporal role, and this will be a good learning opportunity for me. It’s been refreshing to have some new duties and see the other side of operations here,” he added.

Applegate began his RCMP career in 2006, at which point he served four and a half years in Yorkton. He then got transferred to Montreal Lake Cree Nation for three years, before serving in Humboldt for nearly nine years. The native of Indian Head then arrived in Melfort late last year.

He is no stranger to the RCMP lifestyle, as he is a second-generation Applegate RCMP officer.

Applegate has also lived in Torquay, Warman, Carlyle, and Regina.

“The RCMP has been a part of me ever since I can remember. My dad served from 1974 until 2009, he did 35 years, so it was always just kind of natural,” explained Applegate.

“I can’t say growing up I always knew I wanted to be with the RCMP, but it was something that I was always used and accustomed to, and nd as I got older and matured, it was something that just kind of fell into place.”

He attended the University of Regina to do the pre-police studies program and justice studies, all of which he was successful in.

Applegate will now use those lessons, along with the ones he learned from Simons, in hopes of having a successful interim tenure, leading into the fall and possibly even longer.

“What a great mentor to have and watch him (Simons) work the last six or seven months here, he really did set me up well, coming into this, through his hard work and his mentorship. It’s been really great to watch him and how he works with people and how he gets connected to all the communities he serves,” Applegate mentioned.

“We’ve got a really great team here at the Melfort detachment, and we’ve got a really vast array of constables in our bullpen and support staff up front. We’ve really got a good, ambitious, hard-working team, and we just want to serve the public and whatever they need, just to kind of keep things rolling forward here.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8