The search for Waterloo Region’s next police chief took officials outside the region – but not all that far.

Bryan Larkin, the current chief of the Guelph Police Service, was announced Tuesday as the new head of the Waterloo Region Police Service.

“It was a challenging, agonizing decision – but in the end I felt it was an opportunity that needed to be pursued,” he told CTV News following the announcement.

Larkin had been with Guelph Police since 2011, including as chief for the past two years.

Before that, he spent 20 years with WRPS in a variety of roles.

Torigian announced in April that he would retire from WRPS in early June and take a job at Queen’s Park as deputy minister for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Since Torigian’s departure, deputy chief Steve Beckett had been filling his role on an interim basis.

Larkin expects to officially take command of WRPS in the late summer or early fall.

When that happens, he said, he hopes to take a look at what may be possible to reduce the 75 per cent of officers’ time spent on non-crime-related calls.

“We’re in the midst of lots of different things in policing. Our profession is really under much change,” he said.

“Is the money better spent in other organizations that would solve policing issues or crime issues?”

Tom Galloway, chair of the police services board, said nearly 20 qualified candidates applied for the job, as well as a number who didn’t meet the minimum standards set forth.

He called Larkin an “external yet internal” candidate given his history in Waterloo Region, and said his experience in Guelph was a key factor in him landing the top job.

“I think he would now admit that that was a very good move on his part, and made him position-ready here,” he said.

In Guelph, Mayor Karen Farbridge said she felt “mixed emotions” at the news of Larkin’s departure.

“I’m thrilled for him. He’s an individual that clearly has a big career ahead of him … so I can understand the decision, but on a personal level I feel a sense of loss,” she said.

Larkin said his family – with whom he lived in Guelph even while working in Waterloo Region previously – will move to the region.