Insp. Sarah Darraugh speaks at an Upper Ottawa Valley OPP detachment board meeting in Killaloe.
Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
KILLALOE – The OPP has appointed Sarah Darraugh as the permanent head of the Upper Ottawa Valley (UOV) detachment; the first woman to hold that role.
Insp. Darraugh said the appointment is humbling and, “I take great pride in the fact that my community, the detachment board chairs, my superiors believed that I have the ability to take on this role, because it isn’t easy.
“I’m honoured to take it on.”
The appointment is especially poignant given that she grew up and went to school in the area.
“To be here, I guess, running this ship is a pretty big deal for me,” she admitted.
The new role is more administrative than her previous position as staff sergeant, though she has gained experience, serving as acting inspector since Supt. Steph Neufeld transferred to East Region headquarters in Smiths Falls several months go.
The inspector role gives Darraugh a broader view of all the communities under the UOV detachment and will allow her to develop deeper connections to all of the communities the detachment serves. She cited the public affairs, public outreach aspects of the role and learning about the concerns in the entire UOV service area.
She is not looking at significant change, saying the detachment is on stable ground due to the work of the prior commander in his eight years.
“I want to evolve when it comes to our youth. Better engagement with our schools. Make that first interaction not be a negative one and be a positive one,” she noted.
The inspector has already spoken to the detachment board and council in Madawaska Valley about plans for ramped up enforcement on roads and, “there’s obviously some societal issues that our communities are dealing with,” including domestic violence. She will also look to initiate some joint initiatives with community stakeholders.
Acknowledging the role as somewhat more administrative, Darraugh said she will likely miss being one step further removed from frontline policing.
The biggest difference she sees between her previous role and new one is the more strategic aspect of detachment commander.
“At a staff sergeant role, we work with the detachment commander and the inspector to think about strategies and implement them.” In the inspector role it’s more about working with municipalities and developing the strategy, “creating that plan, that idea,” and seeing it come to fruition. More strategy and delegation, she summarized. Where the staff sergeant implements the plan.
Her father still serves on the OPP in the region. Asked what it’s like working with her father, she said, “I actually think it’s pretty cool to be able to work with my dad. I don’t think many people get say that they get to work with their dad or have been able to work with their dad for as long as I have.
“Regardless of where I am in rank and where he is, he’s still my biggest role model.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without the support of many people,” she stressed, including Neufeld and her family. “I’m certainly humbled to be doing this and excited to be able to support my community, the community I grew up in.”
robert@thevalleygazette.ca
About the Author
