Police probe to examine Kelowna RCMP

KELOWNA — The Abbotsford Police Department is investigating what is described as a series of allegations involving the Kelowna detachment of the RCMP.

Abbotsford police Const. Ian MacDonald says the department was asked in early September to conduct the investigation.

Due to privacy concerns, MacDonald says he is unable to comment on the person or people involved or why the probe was requested.

He says the RCMP asked the Abbotsford department to step in and investigate, but further details could not be released.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Rob Vermeulen says detachment commander Nick Romanchuk took a leave from his post in early September and announced his retirement on Sept. 26.

Vermeulen did not directly address the ongoing Abbotsford investigation or identify who within the RCMP had requested it.

An interim Regional Detachment Commander, Insp. Brent Mundle, is now in charge in Kelowna.

MacDonald couldn’t say how long the investigation was expected to take.

“One of the challenges is, when you are looking at a series of allegations, as opposed to a single stand-alone, sometimes those things can connect through to other witnesses and other evidence, and so I don’t want to put a definitive time line on it.”