The Weyburn Police Service is celebrating a major milestone on Saturday, June 23, as they celebrate 50 years of continuous community policing. The weekend's main celebration will take place on Saturday at the Curling Rink, beginning at 6 p.m. with cocktails, followed by the dinner at 7 and a program at 8 p.m. A dance will follow the program.

The police service have invited their police colleagues, as well as past and present members of the force to join them, along with citizens and the business community.

A museum of items collected over the years will be set up at the Curling Rink, including a police court register that goes back to 1914.

The municipal police force took over duties for the City of Weyburn as of July 1, 1957, headed up by a former RCMP officer, James McCardle, as their first police chief. The city's first municipal force, however, actually formed in 1913 under Chief Constable Blaikie, with constables Shee, Lyons and Partridge. According to city records, Blaikie was the chief constable for 20 years until 1933, when he passed the reins to Constable Grieve until 1936, and Constable Hill took over as Chief Constable until the end of 1944. At this time, the RCMP took over policing until the city reinstated its municipal force in 1957.

In the Weyburn Police Service's 50 years since, there have only been five chiefs, starting with James E. McCardle. When Chief McCardle began his duties on Aug. 1, 1957, coming to Weyburn from Flin Flon, his last posting as an RCMP officer, the department was located in the basement of the City Hall where it was located for 29 years before the present police station was built.

There was a mixture of experience and no experience amongst the first members of the police department. Chief McCardle, born in Belfast, Ireland, had been with the RCMP since 1928. Const. James Wilson, from Maple Creek, had 10 years of experience with the Regina Police Service; Const. William Goodwin, a native of Griffin, had no experience; Const. William Fardoe from Winnipeg had three years experience with a constabulary force in England, and three years with the British East African Force in Kenya; Const. Gordon Dynna, from Spalding, had no prior police experience; Const. William Vatamaniuck, born in LaFleche, also had no prior experience; Const. Clarence Vennard, born in Durwood, had two years with the police in Whitewood, and served in Midale as a police officer; Const. Edward (Ted) Williams served for four years with Birkshire County Constabulary and with the British Forces in World War Two.

All of the officers went and trained with the Regina and Saskatoon police departments. When they began to do police patrols in Weyburn, their uniforms were not ready yet, so they had to go out on the streets and make themselves respected without the visual identity of a police officer.

When McCardle retired in 1974, one of the original officers took over as chief, "Ted" Williams, who saw a need for the police department to expand their service to the community. The department grew to a strength of 12 constables and four sergeants, one inspector and a special constable. In that year, the department began training for firearms, and members began carrying them, which was part of the new standards being set at the provincial level, along with the startup of the Saskatchewan Police College.

Chief Williams left a couple years earlier than planned due to health reasons, and the last original member of the force, Gordon Dynna, took over in 1985. Policing continued to change with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms affecting the laws and how those laws were enforced by the police.

Bill Millar took over in 1993 as the fourth Chief, and the need for enhanced training grew as crime trends became more sophisticated. Legal issues arose which increased the expenses for the police, with things like search and seizure, disclosure and issues of liability began to be more important. Community-based policing, which was at the core of the force from its start, became even more important, with public education and crime prevention at the forefront of the police service.

Chief Millar took early retirement after 10 years, and Rodney Horsman was sworn in as the fifth chief.

"As I reflect back over the years I served with the Weyburn Police Service, with my last 10 years as Chief of Police, progression and change were constant and positive. The Weyburn Police Service evolved into one of the best trained and effective general police services in the province," said Millar of his time.

He noted there were vast improvements in technology and in inter-agency cooperation in his tenure, and pointed to five enhancements he saw in his time: Weyburn was the first municipal police force to have in-car video cameras; the force implemented laser speed detection equipment; it launched the DARE program in elementary schools; Weyburn had the first permanent plain clothes officer; and the Weyburn force changed over to the Glock .40-calibre pistol as its main firearm.

Chief Horsman also reflected on his time on the force, as he has served for 30 years as of June 1, and saw many of those changes brought about under Dynna and Millar.

"With computer technology and the changes of the laws, and the type of crimes now being committed, it takes much longer to complete an investigation. We have to disclose our facts right away to defence lawyers; years ago, we didn't have to worry about that," said Horsman, noting there are more specialized units and integrated units around the province now which help investigate some of the more high-tech crimes and organized crime offences.

"Community-based policing is still a fundamental part of what we do. Our members are active in the community, sitting on various committees, boards, and we're involved with local and provincial agencies. We want to stay current with policing all the time, so we send officers away for training as much as possible," said the Chief.

Some of the specialized courses taken by Weyburn's officers include identification, arson investigation and child abuse investigation.

"The members and staff are very dedicated employees. We work hard and have pride in what we do here. Plus with community-based policing, we rely a lot on community support. This is one profession where you can make a change in someone's life, whether it's by helping a child or an adult," he said, noting every day is different, with every circumstance that arises having unique factors to be dealt with by the officers.