Windsor's Deputy Police Chief says the news that Chief Pam Mizuno plans to retire effective March 31 was a surprise, but after 30 years on the beat he understands the decision.
Deputy Chief Jason Bellaire has been appointed as Acting Chief effective April 1, 2022 until such time as a formal recruitment process for a permanent Chief of the Windsor Police Service is completed.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, Bellaire says the role of chief is an all consuming job and Mizuno is someone who has broken barriers at the service and in the community over the years.
"I have three daughters of my own, and they were excited at the time when he became chief of police because it meant a lot since policing is traditionally a very male dominated career," he continued. "Chief Mizuno who's still chief until the end of this month did an excellent job being a role model and putting herself in that position."
In terms of the future, Bellaire wasn't exactly campaigning for the job but says it's an honour to be able to hold the title of Acting Chief come April.
"I myself have been with the Windsor Police for a long time, over 26 years so I am really looking forward to working with all our stakeholders. Including our own members and our Windsor Police Association to improve on an already excellent foundation and to look to continue that excellent service delivery to the community. I am looking forward to that," Bellaire stated.
The timing of the decision raised some eyebrows, following the recent blockades at the Ambassador Bridge, but Bellaire says Mizuno's decision was based on personal circumstances and nothing else.
He says they're always in a state of reviewing how they do police business, and they're working to organize a debrief with the other agencies involved in that operation to get a clearer picture of what happened.
"All in all the feedback that we've received, and that I've personally received, is that the integrated police response here did a great job. As a colleague of the members here and as a colleague of the police officers that came here to help out, I'm really proud. We provided an organized and integrated response that ended peacefully, safely and compared to some other areas in a timely way."
Mizuno was originally appointed chief in October of 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the city's 152-year history.
- with files from AM800's The Morning Drive