A familiar face officially joined the Taber Police Service Monday morning — at least a face familiar to chief Alf Rudd.
Christopher Nguyen was sworn in Monday as Taber’s newest officer at a ceremony inside the Taber Police Station, and afterwards, Rudd said he could not have been happier about the newest recruit.
“Our paths have met again here. It’s been my privilege to hire him twice,” said Rudd, who was Nguyen’s commanding officer when the two worked together at the Blood Tribe police force.
Rudd added once the police commission completed its process, which completed a background check, input from references and interviews, all signs pointed to Nguyen.
“Once we completed that, it overwhelmingly pointed to Chris,” said Rudd, who added it was also Nguyen’s willingness to be involved in the community that pushed him over the top.
Art Olivier, a member of the police commission, added Nguyen was the officer the town was looking for, based on another important factor.
“Basically, it was his experience, and his community and family protective training and things he’s done in the past at the Blood Tribe. He’s a senior person as well — he does have 10 years of experience.”
Olivier added it was Nguyen’s level-headed approach during the interview process that also struck him as positive.
For Rudd’s part, Nguyen is an officer he has known for the past 10 years. He was at the Blood Tribe when Nguyen was sent to Regina to train at depot with RCMP officers, part of the Blood Tribe’s new training protocol at that time.
“He did very well and made us proud down there,” said Rudd of Nguyen’s time in Regina. “He competed well and proved his worth. Then he came back and contributed well to our department.”
But it was not just the solid training results and the on-the-ground work Nguyen did as an officer which impressed Rudd.
“He’s a good community person. I watched him in the community and he had a good affinity with the people he worked with in those communities.”
For Nguyen himself, being part of the community here in Taber is something he wants to continue. The local air cadet core is one group he added he wants to get involved with. He added finding time for community work such as that was a big reason for coming to Taber.
“Coming from the Blood Tribe Reserve and the service, that’s one of the busiest departments in Canada, and it’s given me a lot of skills. It’s a different pace here and it should allow me to work more on community projects.”
Taber’s reputation as running a professional, community-based department, along with the presence of Rudd, is what drew Nguyen to apply for the job, along with his family connection to the area.
Nguyen was born in Hong Kong, but his family moved to Lethbridge when he was two months old. Both his parents and his wife’s parents live in Lethbridge, which made staying in southern Alberta a slam dunk.
That made his decision easy, a decision which he said was reinforced by Monday’s swearing-in ceremony. Rudd, a number of other Taber Police Service officers and police commission members, were joined by town staff and a host of community members  to welcome the new recruit.
“It’s overwhelming, but very heartwarming,” Nguyen said of the welcome.
He added that only cemented his decision to make Taber home for himself and his family.
“It’s the community, the Town of Taber, the resources and the services they offer,” he said as to the reason he selected Taber. “We want to raise our family here.”