Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno says her decision to retire hasn't been an easy one, but it's something that's been weighing on her for quite some time.
Earlier this week the news broke that just three years into her five-year contract, Mizuno was deciding to step away from the force after 30 years on the beat.
She joined AM800's The Morning Drive to discuss the decision, saying it's time to spend more time with family.
"Over the course of the past two or three years I've tried to find time to balance both my personal and my professional life," she continued. "I find myself having to reexamine my priorities, and at this time I need to commit more time to my family."
Mizuno says even with that being said, she also has to make sure that the Windsor Police Service is a priority and that there's a strong and efficient transition.
"The organization is so much bigger than just one person, I have to make the decision to prioritize the members of our organization and our community and that's critical. So that's really what led up to my decision, I'm sad to leave but I'm also quite happy that I'm going to have that time to dedicate to my family," Mizuno said.
She says the Windsor Police Service is a great organization with great members, but in looking back at challenges over the years the pandemic has really changed everything.
"I'm just so thankful for the support that I've received over the years, but obviously the biggest challenge recently is the pandemic. It's been a challenge for everyone, for the members of the service and for the members of the community. We can see it in our calls for service and I can see it in the membership, they've had to learn to work differently."
Chief Mizuno was the first woman to lead the police service in Windsor's history, and she says felt the weight of what that meant throughout her tenure.
"It certainly has not been easy to be a female leader in a traditionally male dominated profession. I think female leaders in policing often face more and different scrutiny than male leaders. It has been a challenge, we get treated differently, there's little small differences and then there's those larger differences."
She says in her view one of the biggest challenge for the service moving forward will be adapting and implementing different technology through their strategic plan to deal with problems.
Mizuno says they've worked to expand their technology unit and the personnel they have there.
"And using the data that we have in order to improve our efficiencies. And we all know the social issues that face our city and other cities and those are going to continue to be challenging for the Windsor Police Service as we work towards ensuring that we're able to respond to those issues appropriately. Continuing to work with our community partners moving forward so we can provide the best service to the community," she stated.
Chief Mizuno remains with the police service until April 1, when Deputy Chief Jason Bellaire will take on the title of Acting Chief until a formal recruitment process for a permanent Chief of Police is completed.