Meet Saskatoon’s new Chief of Police

The Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners announced Deputy Chief Cameron McBride as the new Chief of Police for the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS).

Chief McBride will begin his five-year term on May 16, the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners said in a release.

“Incoming Chief McBride, both through his achievements in his 27-year policing career and through this recruitment process, demonstrated to the Board his exceptional leadership skills, an ability to think strategically, and an absolute commitment to upholding the principles of justice and public service in our community,” Chair of the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners Shirley Greyeyes said.

The Board says since joining the SPS in 1997, incoming Chief McBride has been a key figure in the force's growth, particularly in diversity and equity initiatives

Following former Chief Troy Cooper's retirement earlier this year, the Board began the planning process for the recruitment of a new Chief. Leaders International was brought in February to assist in recruiting a new leader by spring.

“Our recruitment process was robust, and included a national search for candidates, consultation with external policing and community partners as well as Saskatoon Police Service staff,” said Greyeyes.

“We were fortunate to receive interest from several internal candidates and numerous external candidates from across Canada, some of whom participated in a series of interviews and presentations to the Board. We believe the interest we received is a testament to the reputation our Police Service has of being a forward-thinking and innovative organization and we thank all those who applied and participated in the process with us.”

In December last year, the board brought acting Deputy Chief Dave Haye as interim chief.

McBride says he never imagined he would become police chief when he was hired 27 years ago.

In recent years he's taken on more responsibility ahead of becoming Deputy Chief late last year.

He says he became even more confident in his ability to lead when Cooper took a step back because of his health.

"I know that we have room to improve. We have room to do things that are that are out of the box that are cutting edge that will become best practices for other police organizations. I know we can do that and we will do that," he said.

"We will do great things together."

McBride says he is taking plenty of lessons learned from Cooper and former police chief Clive Weighill, who McBride says really adopted the idea of partnerships and forming relationships before Cooper took it a step further.

"Build that trust, which can lead to create an environment where it's us together and not the police and the community with a division in between. It's us together," he said.

Mayor Charlie Clark has seen the police service undergo plenty of change in recent years, and he feels McBride is the right person to continue to lead it for years to come.

"You need this unicorn that can both be strategic and strong and thinking operationally about what's needed and be very aware of the needs of diverse membership within the police service and also be an incredible community builder and relationship builder," Clark said.

"And that's not an easy thing to do. And I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Cam McBride as the chief." 

-With files from Keenan Sorokan