One of Dawson City's finest is going to Ottawa to take on the rank of chief superintendent and director of the country's aboriginal policing branch.

Brenda Butterworth-Carr is the first Canadian aboriginal woman ever to hold the rank of chief superintendent, the fourth highest in the RCMP hierarchy.

A member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, Butterworth-Carr began her career in 1987 as a special constable in her hometown of Dawson. From there, she went to Regina to train as a regular officer and began her climb toward the upper echelon of Canada's national police force.

In 1999, she took on the rank of corporal and was named aboriginal policing co-ordinator in Whitehorse.

In 2002, she was promoted to sergeant and became the aboriginal policing co-ordinator for the entire North District. The next year, she was the acting officer in charge of aboriginal policing.

The 44-year-old mother of three eventually moved to the North District headquarters in Prince George, B.C., where she served first as an inspector, and then as the superintendent and commanding officer of the district.

Butterworth-Carr hit two birds with that promotion, becoming the first woman and the first aboriginal person to hold the command post in northern B.C.

The Prince George command has been the most rewarding part of her career thus far, she told the Star in an interview this week, "because I can see the results in the people I work with at the detachment and in the community.”

She came in to the job committed to addressing the issues of gang violence, drug use, homelessness and prostitution in the northern capital's city centre.

"Certainly, we've been successful in resolving a lot of the problems in the downtown core,” she said of whether she achieved her goals.

Though she is leaving her post with a year left in her three-year commitment, she said she is confident her successor will build on the work she has done.

The move to Ottawa will bring more than a change in location for Butterworth-Carr, who is taking two of her three sons along with her.

"It's not unusual for me to go out and work on the ground with my officers,” she said of life at the busy Prince George detachment. "So moving from an operational to an administrative level will be an adjustment.

"But my expectation is to go and look at what has already been established and bring that experience of being at an operational level and being on the ground to my new job. I think that will be a real strength.”

Both her sons are excited about the move to Ottawa, she said.

"They were probably more excited than I was. Ottawa is an incredible city. I always did say I would go to Ottawa; I didn't know how or when. Though, I have to say it's going to be difficult to leave Prince George.”

Once she is settled into her new job, Butterworth-Carr said she is hoping to finish her bachelor's degree in leadership and conflict negotiation, as well as work on becoming fully bilingual.

"I've been studying whenever I can, but the job in Prince George has kept me very busy,” she said.

"Thankfully, some of my officers are bilingual, so they've been helping me with conversational French.

"Living in Ottawa will certainly broaden my horizons.”

Butterworth-Carr is replacing the former director of aboriginal policing, Russell Mirasty, who was promoted to the rank of assistant commissioner in October. Mirasty is a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.

Butterworth-Carr's new role will include responsibility for crime prevention and community policing, as well as First Nation policing.

With a host of new superintendents, chief superintendents, assistant and deputy commissioners, Butterworth-Carr said, she is going in to her job with an open mind.

"There are so many changes in the senior management, even my superior officers will be new to their roles.

"My responsibilities will depend on all of us sitting down and strategizing about the direction aboriginal and community policing will take.”