'Last chance' for Thunder Bay Police Service as it prepares to discuss finding a new chief
CBC
Thunder Bay's police services board today will hold its first discussions on replacing Chief Sylvie Hauth, days after the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) announced there would be hearings into misconduct allegations against the 30-year veteran of the force.
On Thursday, Hauth announced she would not seek an extension of her current contract and would retire as police chief next June.
Later the same day, the OCPC announced it had served Hauth with a notice of hearing, following an investigation into allegations of misconduct.
"I wasn't surprised at the announcement of retirement," said Michael Kempa, a criminology professor with the University of Ottawa. "I was surprised that the OCPC, the oversight body at the provincial level, would be carrying on with its investigation.
"They had been ongoing with the investigation since February with respect to allegations against the deputy chief, that he had conducted an inappropriate investigation against the police services board member. And of course, the allegations against the outgoing chief are that she misrepresented this investigation to members of the Police Services Board, amongst other things."
Hauth faces three counts under the Ontario's Police Services Act (PSA):
None of the allegations have been proven in legal proceedings.
The police service has been under intense scrutiny and pressure in recent months. Some current and former employees have filed human rights complaints against police administration, and the OPP has also launched an investigation into allegations of criminal misconduct against police service members.
The police union, meanwhile, has characterized the relationship between its members and Hauth as "fractured," and has called for the service to go outside its ranks when hiring a new chief.
That came as a surprise to Kempa.
"It's quite unusual for a union to say, 'Let's go outside the service,'" he said. "But I would say that that would likely be very important.
"The only thing I would underline, though, is you could find the most progressive, ingenious police leader in the world — on their own, they will not be able to reform the Thunder Bay Police Service. As everyone knows, there's a lot of problems with governance of Thunder Bay policing.
"The police services board there is under a sort of caretaker arrangement with that administrator, who has all of the voting rights at the moment. That's got to be sorted out."
Kempa said he expects "up-and-coming" leaders to apply for the police chief job, as they'll have the energy to tackle the problems with the service and success in Thunder Bay would help their careers.
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