Peacekeepers Have Big Shoes to Fill As Phillips Retires After Four Decades

After 40 years helping to uphold the law and keep Kahnawake safe, Frank Phillips has called it a career with the Kahnawake Peacekeepers (PKs).

“Surprisingly it feels like there was a weight taken off my shoulders of some of the responsibilities I had,” Phillips told K1037 News. “Every year there was more and more technology going into our business and I was the one responsible to take care of it for our department.”

Phillips began as a part-time dispatcher in 1981. Within a few months he was quickly elevated to full-time. He stayed in that job until 1998. He then transitioned into Information Technology (IT), where he stayed until his retirement this week. Phillips says he has seen it all over four decades.

“I went though a lot. I seen a lot what happened over there,” Phillips said. “I went through 10 Chiefs of the Peacekeepers. I was on my third building as a police headquarters. We started off at the Fire Hall, we shared it. Then to the new building next to the bakery. Then our present building. Went through the 1990 Crisis, the Ice Storm of ’98. Those were the two biggest things I remember going through.”

Dwayne Zachary, the current Chief of the Kahnawake Peacekeepers says they have big shoes to fill now at the department.

I’m really happy for Frank,” Zachary said. “You know he worked for the Kahnawake Peacekeepers for 40 years so that’s quite an accomplishment. Frank was very well liked in our organization. He’s basically a member of our family. Right now it’s time for him to retire. He wants to go on and maybe do some different things, so, I’m sad to see him go but at the same time I’m really happy for him too.”