The new president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) is a familiar face for Chatham-Kent residents.
Chatham-Kent Police Chief Gary Conn was sworn in as the OACP president on Wednesday and will serve in the role for 2021-2022.
The OACP was created in 1951 and provides a channel for police leaders across the province to share ideas and work together to create solutions to meet the challenges facing police leadership in Ontario.
The organization currently has over 1,200 members that serve with the RCMP, OPP, First Nations, and municipal police services all across the province
Conn succeeds Chief Antje McNeely of Kingston Police.
"It’s a great honour for me to be able to serve as president. I am following in the footsteps of dedicated police leaders like Chief McNeely, who felt called to serve our police organizations, police professionals and the people of Ontario," said Conn. "These are challenging times for policing. We must always listen carefully to the people we serve and to our police members. As leaders, we must always devote ourselves to pursuing change in policing that helps build safe and just communities."
Conn joined the newly amalgamated Chatham-Kent Police Service in 1998 and became chief in 2015 Prior to that, he served on the London Police Service for three years.