Niagara Police Services Board announces new police chief

NEWS RELEASE
NIAGARA POLICE SERVICES BOARD
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Jen Lawson, chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara Police Services Board, announced today that the board has selected Bill Fordy as the new Chief of Police for the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS).  Bill Fordy is currently the Deputy Chief of Police, Support Services, with the NRPS.  He will begin his role as Chief of the NRPS effective Feb. 1, 2024. 

“What impressed the Board the most about Chief-Designate Fordy is his knowledge and experience in diverse and complex policing issues. He has been a valuable contributor to the NRPS senior leadership team over the past six plus years,” stated Board Chair Jen Lawson. “Chief-Designate Fordy has a wide breadth and depth of experience in his 35-year-long career with the NRPS and RCMP. He has held key leadership positions within both policing agencies and prior to joining the NRPS as Deputy Chief, was the RCMP Assistant Commissioner overseeing all operational and administrative matters of policing in the Lower Mainland District of British Columbia. He has overseen complex policing matters and substantial budgets at municipal, provincial, and federal levels. He has led teams through states of emergencies, high-profile investigations and is well-versed in government relations. Chief-Designate Fordy has a demonstrated history of championing strategic initiatives that improve community policing and organizational efficiencies; and will be a strong and impactful leader for the NRPS and the community at large.” 

"It is truly an honour and privilege, and I am humbled to become the Chief of the Niagara Regional Police Service. In that capacity, I’m looking forward to continuing to work with the great professional and sworn members of the NRPS, as we all work together with the communities we serve,” stated Chief-Designate Fordy. 

Biography of Bill Fordy 

Chief-Designate Bill Fordy is a 35-year policing veteran. As Deputy Chief with the Niagara Regional Police for six years, he has led service delivery model reviews; enhanced engagement with the community; implemented business intelligence processes to streamline internal communication; developed and implemented a respectful workplace policy and workload study to measure the pressures placed upon our front-line police officers; led the Service through the pandemic; led and facilitated the development of two Strategic Plans; inspired both the Mental Health Strategy and Diversity Plan; enhanced relationships with the Police Association, the Police Services Board, and Service Members, and championed the creation of the Corporate Strategy and Innovation office. 

Prior to joining the Niagara Regional Police Service, he served as the RCMP Assistant Commissioner overseeing all operational and administrative matters of policing in the Lower Mainland District of British Columbia and five Integrated Units - the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team (IHIT), LMD Emergency Response Team, Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service, LMD Integrated Forensic Identification Service and the Police Dog Service. The LMD and Integrated Units covers 13 detachments in 28 communities, with 3,522 employees serving over 1.8 million people and over 40 Indigenous communities with a combined budget of approximately $414 million.   During his policing career, he has held a variety of senior management positions including Chief Superintendent; the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Surrey, British Columbia RCMP detachment; Superintendent in-charge of Investigative Services; and Inspector of the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team. 

Among his many accomplishments, Chief-Designate Fordy has been a leader and expert on interviewing techniques and major case management. While involved in a series of murder investigations early in his career, he saw challenges in law enforcement's ability to secure confessions from suspects. Taking the initiative, he met with experts to develop solutions, creating the concept of a regional interview team in 1999, helping establish such teams and to create standardized training across Canada. As a result of his work in the field of police interviewing, hundreds of high-profile investigations have been successfully resolved and important case law has been created. 

While serving as OIC for Surrey RCMP, Chief-Designate Fordy played a key leadership role in the creation of Sophie's Place Child Advocacy Centre, a specialized child-friendly centre to coordinate child abuse investigations and develop integrated supports for child victims of physical and sexual abuse. He also led and supported the integration of the Ministry of Justice's Community-Based Victims Services into the Surrey RCMP Domestic Violence Unit and Police-Based Victim Services. This innovation and integration of services has helped in the prevention, education, and intervention around violence against women. 

In 2014, he was invested as a Member of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces by the Governor General of Canada and in 2019 was elevated to the higher-status of the ‘Officer of the Order of Merit’ level. He has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the RCMP E Division Commanding Officers Commendation. The latter was for his outstanding service in the investigation and disappearances of a large number of women from the Metro Vancouver area.  As the main interviewer of the suspect, Chief-Designate Fordy helped develop strategies to gather evidence that eventually led to the conviction of Robert Pickton for the murders. 

While serving as a member of the RCMP, Chief-Designate Fordy has completed a number of university level courses as part of the MBA Program at Simon Fraser University and has received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the Justice Institute in recognition of his community service and contributions to justice and public safety in Canada. 

He serves as a member of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), and serves as a member, and a former Director, of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and as a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Chief-Designate Fordy is the recipient of the distinguished 2023 CACP Recognition Award, presented to individuals who exemplify courage, integrity, respect, transparency, inclusiveness, excellence and compassion; and demonstrate exceptional involvement, extraordinary support, and outstanding initiative in advancing the CACP’s goals and strategic priorities. He has served as a Police Services Board Member for the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (Transit Police) and was a member of the British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police and the Board of Directors for the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia.

Chief-Designate Fordy is physically active and demonstrates leadership in all aspects of life. He is active in the community and served for over a decade as a volunteer coach and executive member of the local Minor Hockey Association. He played junior and professional hockey prior to becoming a police officer and he is a three-time Ironman triathlete and participated in the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2017. 

A Swearing-In Ceremony for Chief-Designate Fordy will take place at a date and time to be announced

The Police Services Board has been actively engaged in succession planning to ensure the highest quality of the Executive Command. The selection for the Chief of Police consisted of an internal search assisted by the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson to define and meet the needs of the Niagara Region, our local communities, the Police Services Board, and the Niagara Regional Police Service.   

The firm is also engaged to assist the Board with its Deputy Chief selection processes.  The selection process for two Deputy Chief positions will begin immediately, with successors for Chief-Designate Bill Fordy and retired Deputy Chief Brett Flynn, to be identified by the end of February or early March 2024. 

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