The Windsor Police Services Board is in the final stages of implementing a new policy on how to handle 911 calls regarding its chief of police.
Members met last week with officials from the Ministry of the Solicitor General on the best way to implement a conflict of interest policy.
It comes after Windsor police officers were called to a 911 call from former Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick's home in November of 2018.
There is a policy in place when there is a 911 call regarding an officer's conduct, that another supervisor or another officer holding a more senior rank attend to oversee the call — but there wasn't one in place regarding the chief who has the highest rank.
"We noticed that there was a gap in the policy but we weren't alone," says Windsor Police Services Board Chair Mayor Drew Dilkens. "In fact, the representatives from the ministry who cover almost the entire province of Ontario tell us there is no other police service in Ontario that has a specific policy that deals with this kind of issue."
Mayor Dilkens says it was determined that the steps the Windsor police service took in November 2018, was the best course of action.
In the former chief's situation, the deputy chief was called in and contacted the board chair.
"What they said to us in this meeting is that what you did in terms of the actions you took and the steps that were taken to get the information to the board chair and then to the board itself were the most appropriate in the circumstances," says Dilkens.
Dilkens says the new policy will ensure there is no confusion in the future.
"It is a matter of codifying that, so that in the future as the board chair changes, as city council changes and as the members of the Windsor Police Service Board change, that it is actually codified in writing," he says. "That everyone knows how to handle a situations that involves the chief of police."
The Windsor Police Services Board called in the OPP to review how officers handled the situation and the OPP concluded everything was done in a proper and transparent manner.
For his part, then Chief Frederick says it was a deeply personal matter between himself and a family member.
No charges were ever laid.