Windsor could wait six months for new deputy police chief, board says

The Windsor Police Service is working to fill its deputy chief role after Jason Crowley moved to chief. CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru has more.

Windsor residents will be waiting several months before a new deputy police chief is named.

Following the Dec. 4 meeting of the Windsor Police Services Board, chair Jo-Anne Gignac said the same three-person committee that oversaw the city’s chief of police selection will also be responsible for choosing the next deputy chief.

While internal candidates will be encouraged to apply, the search will extend outside the organization as well.

Gignac cautioned the public not to expect a quick turnaround.

She said the board will publish the job posting in policing industry publications and move through the vetting process as efficiently as possible, but noted the city’s recent chief recruitment was an “extensive undertaking.”

“I never pre-commit. I don’t like to do that because you just don’t know,” she said. “I assume that we’ll probably tap the same timeline — so five to six months — and hope that we’re finished.”

The deputy chief vacancy follows Jason Crowley’s appointment as Windsor’s new chief a little more than a week ago, replacing former chief Jason Bellaire.

Thursday’s post-meeting interviews also included discussion about provincial policing grants.

A letter from LaSalle council raised concerns that municipalities with their own police services — as opposed to contracting the OPP — may be at a disadvantage when applying for provincial funding.

Gignac said Windsor applies for every grant available, but added that several long-standing programs have been reduced or eliminated in recent years, shifting costs back onto local taxpayers.

Police leaders also addressed how calls for service are prioritized.

Officers reiterated that Priority 1 emergencies remain the highest focus and are seeing improved performance. Windsor police say those urgent calls are consistently being handled in under eight minutes.

Supt. Paolo DiCarlo explained that Priority 1 designations are fixed and do not change based on how busy the service is.

“When that type of emergency comes in, it’s automatically coded as a priority one, and our members will respond to those first.”

But Priority 2 calls — which can include break-and-enters not in progress, disturbances or certain after-the-fact assaults — continue to face longer waits.

DiCarlo emphasized that call priority is based on the information available at the time and can shift if circumstances change.

“That information is more of a designation for us — for our dispatching purposes,” he said. “If anybody calls the police, it’s potentially an emergency for them ... but those [priorities] get elevated, or they could also get lower, depending on information changing the other way as well.”

Gignac did not provide a specific date for when the recruitment committee will begin reviewing applications for deputy police chief, saying only that the process will move forward once the posting is published.