St. Albert Constable working to bring community and police force together

The St. Albert RCMP, along with Walmart in support of the Salvation Army, collected hundreds of toys on Saturday for Christmas.

Constable Rachel Glendenning is a nearly 10-year vet of the RCMP. Her position recently changed from general duties to community policing. Now, she’s spearheading events in the community, like the toy drive.

“I want kids to have a magical Christmas,” said Glendenning.

“We’re here, we’re trying to make a difference, police are good, we care about the communities that we’re in, and we do want to make a positive difference,” added Glendenning.
Saturday’s toy drive is just one example of an event put on by the St. Albert RCMP aimed at strengthening ties between community and police, a relationship that constable Glendenning says is important to foster, especially for kids.

“They need to know that we’re here to help them. A lot of parents joke that we’re going to take them away, I don’t like that joke personally, I want them to know they can come to us. Sometimes kids don’t know who to go to. They don’t know who they can talk to and who they can trust. They’re supposed to have safe spaces, and they don’t always know where that is, and I want them to know that that’s us,” said Glendenning.

Constable Glendenning has more events planned in the near future, including a pet food drive to support animal shelters, bringing the city together while building trust between the community and the police force.

“We want kids to know that they can come to us, we want adults to know that they can come to us in the times of need. Not everybody likes us, but they always call us when they need us, and we’re always going to show up,” said Glendenning.