DRYDEN — The City of Dryden is lowering its flags in honour of the passing of former Police Chief Doug Palson on Wednesday.
Officials said it will help to commemorate the honour of Palson’s life and service to the community.
“On behalf of Dryden City Council and all our residents he served, I extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues during this extremely difficult time,” said Mayor Jack Harrison.
Palson served Dryden residents for six and a half years before an amalgamation with the OPP in February 2022.
Bob Wright, a Sergeant with the Dryden OPP, was one of many officers who came over to the OPP from the Dryden Police during the amalgamation.
“I worked under Chief Palson for six years and can say that he was a great leader who deeply cared about the City of Dryden and the Dryden Police Service and it’s members, both Uniform and Civilian,” said Wright, in a written statement.
He added Chief Palson’s death is a devastating loss to the policing community and all that knew him.
“He was a kind, caring man who had an open door policy and was always willing to chat about anything at any time,” said Wright.
“He was a very stoic man. However, once you got to know him, you realized that he had a great sense of humour (and) loved to joke with his staff.”
Wright said Palson was very passionate about ensuring that Dryden residents were ‘receiving the best care possible from the Dryden Police Service.’
Palson’s passing was sudden for the Manitoba First Nations Police Service, where he was working as the Chief of Police.
The Portage la Prairie RCMP and Fire Department responded to a report of a structural fire at a residence in Portage la Prairie north of High Bluff at 4:50 a.m.
The residence was confirmed to have belonged to Palson and after the department extinguished the fire, investigators discovered human remains in the home.
The identity of the deceased has yet to be confirmed, but it is believed to be Palson.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
