A detective with the Sarnia Police Service is taking an unpaid leave of absence to pursue a military deployment overseas.
Chief Norm Hansen said Cst. Allison Knapp was selected to participate in an operation, as a training officer with the Canadian Armed Forces.
"Allison has been in the reserve military for about 10 years, she's been with us about seven," said Hansen. "The opportunity presented itself to serve her country and she really wanted to do that."
Hansen said he believes Cst. Knapp was approached for a few reasons.
"Allison is a stellar officer. She's assigned to the detective office right now, and she's also the first female member of our tactical team, our ERT [Emergency Response Team] team," said Hansen. "She's very familiar with tactics and I think that's why the military has asked her to assist. Not because of the police training she's had, but because of the prior military training she's had."
Chief Hansen said Cst. Knapp's deployment is for three months -- from the beginning of January to the end of March.