Halton police chief decides to ride off into the sunset – announces his retirement to start in June, 2012

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  December 15, 2011  – Gary Crowell, the Chief of Halton Regional Police is hanging up his pistols and will take retirement in June of 2012.  After 41 years of policing, which started with a stint with the RCMP, the chief, who has been with the Halton Regional Police Service since 1999, when he was brought in as Deputy Chief, is bringing a police career to an end.

Crowell was promoted to Chief in 2006.   Prior to coming to Halton, he served with the Peel Regional Police Service.

Police Services Board Chairman Bob Maich and other members of the Board commended and thanked Chief Crowell for his dedication to the Service, and to the community. “The Board is proud of the Chief’s many accomplishments attained over the years. Through the leadership, integrity and decisiveness of Chief Crowell, the Police Service team, the Region of Halton, and all community members have benefited from his contributions”, said Bob Maich. “The Board looks forward to his continued leadership through this transition period.”

Chief Gary Crowell has announced his retirement for June of 2012. Police Services Board gears up to find a replacement.

Chief Crowell thanked the Board for their incredible support and guidance during his six years as Chief. He also thanked the members of the Service for their dedication and commitment in making the Halton Police Service a very effective and professional organization. “With the excellence of the Service team and many volunteers, our community partners and Halton citizens, I am proud that Halton has been able to maintain its recognition as the safest Regional Municipality in Canada”, remarked Crowell. “I will continue my commitment to the Service through to June, 2012.”

Throughout his career, Crowell has been committed to the betterment of the Service and the community. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) Crime Prevention Committee, the National Child and Youth Protection Advisory Committee and the Halton Poverty Roundtable. He served on the Joseph Brant Hospital Board of Governors for nine years. He is also the recipient of the Police Exemplary Service Medal, the Order of Merit, the Gold Medal for Excellence by the Human Rights and Race Relations Centre, and the Ontario Women in Law Enforcement’s first President’s Award.

Officer Wendy Moraghan is one of the group of women in the Halton Regional Police Service that Chief Crowell wanted to see in the service as it expanded. Here she works on some equipment with a techie as they prepare for a community presentation.

Crowell was responsible for some significant changes in the number of female police in the Halton service.

The Board will meet early in the New Year to consider the process it will undertake to appoint a new Chief.  The Halton Regional Police Services Board is a seven-member civilian Board that governs the Halton Regional Police. Under the Police Services Act, the Board is responsible for the provision of adequate and effective police services to the citizens of Halton Region. The Halton Regional Police Service has an authorized strength of 925 staff, a net budget of $122.2 million.

The Police Services Board is going through a budget for 2012 that looks as if it will require a tax increase of 3.2%

Among the people that will certainly be in line for the top job is Deputy Chief Bob Percy who is currently as Deputy Chief Operations responsible for all front line and investigative policing. Halton Regional Police Service Operations under his command include:  District Policing, Emergency Services, Intelligence Bureau and Regional Investigative Services.  This task set is the guts of policing – the reason we have men and women in police cars with guns on their hips.

Prior to his promotion to Deputy Chief in May 2008, Deputy Chief Percy served in a wide variety of uniform patrol duties, including as a Coach Officer, Tactical Rescue Unit officer, patrol supervisor, and District Superintendent.

Deputy Chief Bob Percy has handled some tricky situations in Burlington while he did his best to bring competitive cycling to the Region. He currently runs the Operations side of the Regional Police Service.

Percy worked closely with the city of Burlington while they tried to work out a series of problems related to the potential for competitive level cycling that would be part of the selection of members of the Canadian Olympic Team.  The problems proved to be insurmountable in large measure to the cost of police services to handle traffic control.

A couple of months later Chief Crowell appeared before Burlington city council to tell them that Burlington was doing OK from a policing point of view.  The city had not seen the chief for some time.  During that visit Superintendent Joe Taylor took part in the reporting event.  That was another first for some time.  Supt. Taylor proved to be a man with a sense of responsibility laced with a bit of a sense of humour.  That wasn’t a personality trait evident in most senior police officers.

Police Services tend to look within when there are changes in the top levels.  They tend to look for people who are thoroughly familiar with the community and know everyone in the chain of command.

Another candidate that will get a very close look for promotion is Deputy Chief Andrew Fletcher who began his policing career with the Halton Regional Police Service as a Cadet in 1984. He oversees Community Policing Administration as the Deputy Chief responsible for Community Policing Support, Human Resources, Training, Communications Bureau, Information Services, Courts Services, Records, and Administrative Support Services.

Deputy Chief Fletcher currently runs the Administrative side of the Halton Regional Police Service.

Deputy Chief Fletcher is a strong advocate for community policing and public safety. He is dedicated to building relationships with the community through a number of proactive policing and crime prevention initiatives.

Deputy Chief Fletcher also represents the HRPS on a number of provincial policing committees and liaises with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, and other police and emergency service agencies to ensure Halton remains as safe tomorrow as it is today.

In his spare time, Deputy Chief Fletcher enjoys spending time with his family and is actively involved in the community, including spending most of his spare time on local soccer fields as a coach with the Burlington Youth Soccer Club.

Halton Regional Police Service Community Policing Administration functions under his command include: Community Policing , Human Resources, Training Bureau, Communications Bureau, Information Services, Court Services, Records and Administrative Support Services

Deputies Fletcher and Percy came to the Halton Regional Police service at the same time in 1984.    Has there been some rivalry between these two men ever since they came out of the police academy and put on uniforms with the same shoulder patch?

Whoever the new police chief is – that person will face a community that is seeing criminals from Toronto and Hamilton slip into Burlington where they sense the pickings are a little easier.  There was an LCBO break in during the early hours that required more than twenty minutes for a patrol car to arrive on the scene.  Maybe some tightening up within the ranks on the street is needed.

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