The City of Sarnia officially welcomed its new police chief to the position on Tuesday with a swearing in ceremony at city hall.
Superintendent Derek Davis, from the Halton Regional Police Service, is now Sarnia's top cop taking over for the now retired Norm Hansen.
"I will uphold the Constitution of Canada and I will, to the best of my ability, preserve the peace, prevent offences, and discharge my other duties as Chief of Police faithfully, impartially and according to the law, so help me God."
(Derek Davis signs the oath of office as Sarnia's new police chief - May 31/22 (Blackburn Media photo by Josh Boyce)
Davis said he's looking forward to getting started and learning about the issues impacting Sarnia.
"I want to talk to the senior team, I want to meet with members of the organization, and I plan to go out and meet our community leaders," said Davis. "I want to learn. It's going to be a very steep learning curve. That's my number one priority. I don't know what I don't know and I need to invest all of my time into learning what I need to know. Sarnia is going to have a lot of unique characteristics that I need to learn. The fundamentals, we all share amongst any organization but each city is specific and unique. I'll be looking to lean on the experienced officers and all of our folks to bring me up to speed."
Davis said there are a number of great characteristics that Sarnia offers.
"From being a border town, to the water part, to being a centre hub of an area," he said. "I'm also a fan of more personal contact in policing. When you get into bigger services, it's very industrial in its approach. I like what's called the 'single building police service' where you can meet people and know people and have that personal contact and connection. That's very important to me."
Over his 25 year career, Davis rose in the ranks from Cst. to Superintendent with roles in several units including criminal investigations, traffic, guns and gangs and the training bureau.
He holds business administration diplomas from McMaster University in both Project Management and Risk Management.
He also holds a graduate diploma in Public Administration from Western University and is currently completing his masters of business administration at the Australian Institute of Business.
Davis comes to Sarnia with his wife Jolie and three children.
Former chief Hansen retired this week after 37 years with the service, including four as chief.
Tuesday also marked the final day on the job for former Deputy Chief Owen Lockhart. He officially retired after 32 years with the Sarnia Police Service.