For the first time in more than 35 years, Waterloo Regional Police will consider both internal and external candidates as they search for a new chief.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service Board met Wednesday morning to discuss the search for a replacement for Chief Matt Torigian, who will leave the region in June.
Torigian announced his retirement from the service last week. He’s poised to become Ontario’s new deputy minister of community safety and correctional services.
When Torigian was selected as chief in 2007, it was following an internal-only search.
The last person from outside Waterloo Region to be appointed as the region’s police chief was Syd Brown, who landed the job in 1977.
Police board chair Tom Galloway says the board wants to take a wider look for potential replacements for Torigian.
“It’s a matter of wanting to look broadly at what else is available … and making the absolute best selection,” he told reporters following Wednesday’s meeting.
Applications for the chief job are due by May 31.
An interim chief – somebody in the organization who isn’t interested in the top job permanently – will be selected the following week.
The interim chief will hold the job through the summer and possibly into the fall, Galloway says, depending on when the chosen chief can begin the job.
As for what qualities Waterloo Region’s next police chief should have, Galloway suggested it should be someone who buys into the organization’s community policing model and isn’t on the verge of retirement.
“We’re not looking for a one-year or two-year chief. We’re looking for something longer than that,” he said.
Waterloo Regional Police Association president Paul Perchaluk has his own wishlist of qualities for the new chief.
“The type of individual that we need is somebody that is highly professional, highly dedicated and has a worldly view of the situation across Canada,” he says.
Perchaluk says he’s in favour of the decision to include external candidates in the search, and expects applications to come in from across the country.
The hiring process to replace Torigian will be done using Region of Waterloo human resources staff rather than a consultant or headhunter, Galloway says.
