New Chief For Chatham-Kent

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There is a new Chief of Police in Chatham-Kent Police Services Board.

Current Deputy Chief Gary Conn has been selected by the police board.

Gary Conn was born and raised in London, Ontario where he graduated from secondary school and from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology in 1992. He subsequently enrolled in the Canadian Army and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, ending his military career four years later with the Elgin (Armoured) Regiment. In 1995, he joined the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services as a Correctional Officer, serving at the Genest Detention Centre for Youth in London, however several months later he was hired by the London Police Service as a Constable, where he served in general patrol and with the London Police Honour Guard for four years.

In 1998, he joined the newly-amalgamated Chatham-Kent Police Service where he served in general patrol and designed and implemented our Police Service Honour Guard. In 2002, he was seconded to the Ontario Police College in Aylmer as an instructor for two years. Upon his return he was promoted to Sergeant and served as a Patrol Supervisor, the Service’s Training Coordinator, District Sergeant for the Chatham area, Professional Standards Investigator, Media and Public Relations Officer and Court Services Supervisor. In 2011, he was appointed as an Acting Staff Sergeant in the Community Patrol Branch and was appointed Deputy Chief of Police on April 30, 2012.

Gary has continued his education at Western University, where he has completed his Graduate Diploma in Public Administration, his Masters Degree in Public Administration, and an Executive Management Certificate Program. He is a recent graduate of the 258th Session of the FBI National Academy Program and is bilingual in French. He has completed numerous courses in police operations and management through the Ontario Police College. He has taught as an itinerant instructor in the Police Foundations Program at St. Clair College, he is a Director on the C-K Children’s Safety Village Board, a former Board member of the Cultural Coalition of Chatham-Kent, a member of the Chatham-Kent Positive Spaces Initiative, and is a member of the Parthenon Masonic Lodge in Chatham. Gary is married with three sons and lives in Chatham.

Deputy Chief Conn will be appointed Acting Chief of Police effective April 25th, 2015, to replace retiring Chief Dennis Poole. The swearing-in ceremony and Change of Command will take place on Friday, May 22nd, 2015 at noon at the Armoury Banquet and Conference Centre in Chatham.