London police to hire 3rd deputy chief amid ongoing restructuring

The London Police Service (LPS) wants to hire a third deputy chief, a move the chair of the board that oversees the service says is needed as the city and police ranks grow.

"Our organization hasn't kept up with the growth of our community. The creation of this position is a piece of that puzzle," said Ali Chahbar, who will head the committee that hires the new deputy chief.

"A third deputy on the executive team allows for the capacity for strategic planning, innovation, technology adoption and other modernization strategies."

LPShasbeen led by a chief and two deputies for more than a quarter-century, Chahbar said, and the change is needed to reflect a changing and growing city.

The current two deputies are Trish McIntyre and Paul Bastien. In 2022, the most recently available public data,McIntyre earned around $213,000 and Bastien $185,000. The third deputy's salary will be "in line" with those two, Chahbar said.

London's police chief says slow response times unacceptable

10 months ago

Duration 2:50

London Police Chief Thai Truong knows it can take four days to respond to a 911 call. He explains why as the force pitches city hall for a budget increase to meet London's changing security needs.

Amid concerns about lagging response times and calls for better service, Chief Thai Truong has said he wants to hire more officers and more civilians to rejig and modernize how policing is done in London. That would include allowing special constables who aren't full police officers to take on some of the tasks that keep sworn officers from responding to incidents quickly.

Truong's budget ask from city hall recommends adding 189 new police officers and new infrastructure. Over four years, the budget is worth $672 million. It has yet to be approved by city council, which is currently trying to tackle severalmulti-year budget requests.

"The creation of a third deputy position is an important step that could greatly impact the effectiveness and the efficiency of the service," Chahbar said of the chief's request. "The chief has identified three core priorities for the service: strengthening and building community trust, advancing organizational wellness and improving community safety. It will allow each deputy chief to be dedicated specifically to each of those priorities."

Prepared for future challenges

A third deputy will allow the police service to focus on long-term planning and ensure it's prepared for future challenges, Chahbar said. The city is the fastest growing in the province and the third fastest growing in Canada, but has the second fewest officers per capita in Ontario.

Such an increase to the senior ranks makes sense in a city the size of London, said former London police chief Murray Faulkner.

"The new chief has seen the benefit of having a bench strength that is capable of carrying out policing in a proper manner, and also thinking about training another person to have an option of taking the chief job when he retires or moves on," Faulkner said.

Having senior officers to develop and provide leadership is essential, he added. "As London police has grown, so does the senior capacity and having a third deputy would be worthwhile. Policing, like anything else in society, is changing, but police is very cautious about change, so I think this is a big step for our new chief to put forward, not only in terms of the budget but also the senior ranks."