Detachment Commander in Vermilion taking new position

Vermilion RCMP’s Sergeant is moving on. 

Sgt. Corey Buckingham has been in the Detachment Commander position for two years, but his life in Vermilion began a decade ago when he was posted as a corporal. 

While that was broken up with work at the Kitscoty detachment in between, he’s left an impact, and so to has Vermilion on him. 

He is taking a promotion to be the Onion Lake Detachment Commander, but it is bittersweet leaving a community he didn’t initially expect to love so much. 

“From our perspective of my family, we’ve absolutely loved our time in Vermilion,” Buckingham said to Lakeland Connect. 

“It’s been an absolutely fabulous community. We’ve been very welcomed by the community, very pro-police. And just as things turned out, I became more and more engaged in the community in different ways, whether it’s hockey or Rotary [Club] or different things like that.” 

Buckingham’s last day at the detachment will be Friday, June 27. 

Alberta K Division will then go through the hiring process of finding a replacement, which could take 2-3 months. 

In the meantime, Cpl. Brittany Pegg will be the acting commander. She has been at the Vermilion detachment for multiple years. 

The Vermilion RCMP have nine members and cover an area of 4300 square kilometres. 

During Buckingham’s time at the helm, they’ve worked to increase their communications on notable files and investigations in the community. 

In February, the Vermilion RCMP’s Facebook page launched, a unique feature that few other communities have. 

That’s where they post their monthly crime statistics, but can also leverage the public’s help in investigations, if need be. 

The Saskatchewan-born Buckingham will now be a little closer to home with the new job. 

“We initially came here thinking this was going to be a quick stepping stone onto whatever was next. But ultimately, we spent almost 10 years here.”