Insp. Dean LaGrange was sworn in Tuesday morning as the Red Deer RCMP’s new second-in-command.

LaGrange’s official title is operations support officer. According to Supt. Ken Foster, he will be in charge of the detachment’s plain clothes units, the traffic section in addition to being part of the senior management team.

Born and raised in Red Deer, LaGrange joins the force after more than 25 years with the Calgary Police Service. He replaces Insp. Heidi Wild, who was promoted to a job with the RCMP in Edmonton.

“Being a police officer an hour-and-a-half down the road, we have similar issues and similar problems. It’s no secret we’re in tough economic times,” LaGrange said.

“There’s several pressures facing communities such as the opioid crisis. Red Deer isn’t unique. It happens all over the province and we’re here to work as a team and combat those issues.”

He also spent a year in Afghanistan as part of the RCMP’s International Police Operations Branch, where officers across the country participate in missions to train and mentor the Afghan National Police.

Based in Kabul, LaGrange’s job was to mentor two members responsible for traffic programs in the country.

He said with little infrastructure, or rules of the road, it was a challenge to reach their objectives. As well, spending too much time in one place would have made them “sitting ducks” for ambushes, he added.

Even those who were supposedly on their side were a threat.

“They call them blue-on-green. So Afghani police officers, Afghani soldiers standing around in these areas with automatic weapons would just turn and open fire on Western forces,” he said.

LaGrange views the experience with clear eyes, after witnessing systemic corruption within the country.

“It was a very difficult task. I’m not sure we accomplished what we wanted to. But again, just because something’s difficult, doesn’t mean you can’t try.”