Shawn Devine, who will take over officially as North Bay's Police Chief on January 22nd, 2016 addresses the Police Service and the media after he was named the new North Bay Police Chief this morning. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
The North Bay Police Board announced today that Deputy Chief Shawn Devine is being promoted to Police Chief.
“Deputy Chief Shawn Devine is a well-respected police leader with years of experience serving the City of North Bay and the Municipality of Callander with passion, commitment and vision. He is a dedicated team player and devoted community volunteer with exceptional knowledge of the North Bay Police Service, its history, its policies and its challenges,” said Mr. Dennis O’Connor, Chair of the North Bay Police Services Board in a release.
“It gives me great pleasure to make this announcement on behalf of the Board today. We are confident that he will be successful in his new position and look forward to continuing the positive and productive working relationship we have had with him in the past.”
Devine has been the Deputy Chief since November of 2012.
“I would like to thank Board Chair Dennis O’Connor as well as all members of the North Bay Police Services Board for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading the men and women of this organization as we move forward together,” said Deputy Chief Shawn Devine, North Bay Police Service said in a release.
“It is my pledge to work hand-in-hand with the members of this Service as well as the citizens of North Bay and Callander to ensure that our communities are safe places to live, play, grow and visit.”
Devine realizes there will be challenges ahead taking over the position noting that leadership, mentorship and recruitment will be key parts of his Chief mandate.
“As well as police officers are paid there are actually studies out there that are saying in the next 10 years its going to be hard to find qualified people that are interested in becoming police officers. Leadership, we are facing an older generation of administers or mid managers where we have a new generation of people so there are challenges with that.”
Devine also believes community trust is a priority.
I don’t think you can look in the internet, pick up a paper, or turn on a TV without seeing something that’s going on in the United States as far as challenges to community trust and I think that’s something we really need to focus on,” he said.
Last but not least, Devine says he will continue to work hard to grow community partnerships.
“We can’t do policing alone, we need partners to engage in all areas.”
Devine says knowing how the service operates will allow him to hit the ground running when he takes over on January 22nd.
“I know the day to day operations as to what’s going on with the service and having contact with the people here,” he said.
“I think any good manager or any good leader listens to the people throughout the organization depending on what level. The people that are actually working the floor that know best what’s going on in the organization.”
Outgoing Chief Paul Cook says he was thrilled to find out the board elected to go with the internal hire.
“He has been a loyal and dedicated right hand man for me over the last three years,” admitted Cook who announced his planned retirement in the spring. He has been North Bay's Top Cop since 2004.
“I’ve seen all sorts of personal growth from him. He certainly isn’t one to back away from challenges and you heard from his comments today he will definitely engage his people and he will engage the community to try and come up with service delivery models that are outside the box and a different way of doing things. Shawn has unbelievable people skills, he is certainly well respected internally and well known and respected in this community for his countless hours of volunteerism and being a big part of this community so I think he’s absolutely the right person for the job and I look forward to when he is sworn in on January 22nd of 2016.”
More about Devine
Devine is a long-time resident of North Bay graduating secondary school from Scollard Hall before obtaining a degree in Sociology from Laurentian University in 1986.
He was sworn in as a constable with the local service on February 1st, 1988 after competing Basic Constable training at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer.
Devine has served in the Patrol, Administration and Criminal Investigation Sections during his career. He was also seconded to work with the RCMP in February 2009 to assist with planning the G8 and G20 Summits.
He has been extremely active in the community throughout his policing career and has been recognized by both the Federal and Provincial Governments for volunteerism.
Current Police Chief Paul Cook announced back in May that he would be retiring in January, which gave the Police Board time to find his successor.
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