The chair of the Windsor Police Services Board says Acting Deputy Chief Jason Crowley can apply for the permanent position of deputy chief despite being charged with stunt driving.
Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens says Crowley can absolutley put his name forward.
"The board is very well aware of all of the details that happened with that particular incident, and I know it makes good fodder for conversation out there, but at the end of the day we understand what happened there. Deputy Chief Crowley did not try to run away from it, he owned up to it," he says.
On March 31, the board posted the positions of deputy chief of operations and deputy chief of operational support of the Windsor Police Service.
The recruitment process is currently underway and Dilkens hopes they can make an announcement by late summer in regards to filling the positions.
On Feb. 25, the Windsor Police Service issued a release to announce that a stunt driving charge had been laid against Acting Deputy Chief Crowley.
The release said Crowley was off duty when a vehicle was stopped for driving 111 km/h in a 70 km/h posted speed zone in Amherstburg on Jan. 7, 2023.
Crowley was released with no further action and disclosed the incident to Windsor Police Chief Jason Bellaire, who directed the service's Professional Standards Branch to investigate the matter and as a result, Crowley was issued a summons to appear in court for the alleged stunt driving.
On March 3, the Windsor Police Services Board requested the Ontario Civilian Police Commission to review the matter and assign an external police service to investigate the event and actions.
Dilkens says the matter is before the court and he's sure there will be some disposition there.
"He performed exceptionally well during the Freedom Convoy, he's been a great employee for 30 years and I can't imagine one speeding charge is going to tank the rest of the career. He's a great deputy chief and quite frankly, I'd be surprised if he doesn't apply," he says.
The job posting says the deputy chiefs will share a number of service-wide responsibilities, supporting the chief of police in providing overall leadership.
Frank Providenti currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Operational Support, but he is preparing to retire this year.
Crowley has been serving as the Acting Deputy Chief of Operations ever since Pam Mizuno announced her retirement as police chief in April of 2022.
He replaced Jason Bellaire in that position as Bellaire moved up to the role of acting chief, until he was elevated to the permanent role of chief of police following a selection process by the board.
Mayor Dilkens says they prefer to have staggered contract terms for the deputy chief positions so they're both not open at the same time.
"We had planned that this way when Jason Bellaire was promoted to deputy chief but subsequently promoted to chief of police role. It just created a void this year where we're going to have two vacancies for the role of deputy police chief, we're looking to fill both of those vacancies," he adds.
The deadline to submit an application is Friday, April 21 at 5 p.m.