The new commanding officer of the New Brunswick RCMP wants to make our province a leader in public safety across the country.
Assistant Commissioner Matco Sirotic has been in the role since December after former commanding officer DeAnna Hill retired.
In a sit-down interview with our newsroom, Sirotic said one of his key priorities is to improve communication and consultation with communities.
“One thing I’ve learned from moving so much is that the cookie-cutter approach to policing is not the most efficient way,” said the commanding officer.
“One way that we can increase efficiency and increase public safety is by ensuring that our frontline people and employees go into the community, thoroughly consult with community members and leaders, and really seek their input so that we really understand what their priorities are.”
At the end of the day, the assistant commissioner said the priorities of the communities they serve will be the priorities of the police force.
Community concerns about the RCMP
Many rural communities throughout New Brunswick have raised concerns about a lack of communication, as well as rising crime rates and a perceived lack of police presence.
Sirotic said that based on his experience in communities across the country, this is not something that is unique to New Brunswick.
The commanding officer said his overwhelming message is to ensure that people understand the importance of reporting every crime.
“A lot of times we hear after the fact of a potential string of break-ins into residences or breaking into vehicles, and when we look at our files that have been reported, we may find just one or two instances throughout several weeks,” he said.
“It just highlights the importance of that close connection and that close trust, because the more the more information we receive, the more we can adjust our resourcing to make sure that we address the priorities of the public.”
Other priorities for Sirotic include leveraging technology to increase policing efficiencies, ensuring his employees feel heard and helping them develop through training.
Sirotic’s policing career
Sirotic began his policing career in 2004 and was promoted to corporal in 2012, where he served as the detachment commander in Minto, N.B.
He then moved on to the criminal operations division in Nunavut in 2014, where he was later promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Sirotic became a staff sergeant in 2017 and took on the role of detachment commander for the Iqaluit detachment before transferring to Halifax as the watch commander.
He became a commissioned officer in 2020 and served as the director of the Atlantic Regional Departmental Security Section for Nova Scotia before being appointed officer in charge of operational policy in 2023.
In 2024, he was promoted to superintendent and became the officer in charge of specialized policing and operational support services in New Brunswick.
Sirotic also gave credit to his predecessor for the work she had done with the New Brunswick RCMP over her more than two years in the role.
“She fostered a tremendous morale with the employees overall, as well as the management team, but she also managed to create an established relationship with our municipal policing partners, with our contracting government partners that are phenomenal,” he said.
“I’m not trying to say that my job is easy, but she certainly set the table in a very nice way for me. I got in a role where there’s no immediate animosity to address, the relationship is good on all of those levels, and we meet regularly. So I was very, very fortunate that way.”
