‘Rebuilding’ Sarnia police add, promote, honor officers

Ten Sarnia police officers were recognized this week.

Three new recruits were sworn in, four officers promoted and three more honored for decades of service with Police Exemplary Service Medalsissued by the governor general.

“What we’re trying to do in Sarnia police is recognize these milestones and do a better job of recognizing them,” said Chief Derek Davis.

“So every year when we have new recruits to wear in, we’ve expanded that ceremony to include promotions and long service medals.”

About 60 people, besides those in uniform, were at the service’s training center Monday for the latest ceremony.

“It’s important to celebrate those milestones, especially with family and friends,” Davis said, calling the profession difficult, like no other, and noting the important support role families and friends play.

Expect larger ceremonies like Monday’s at least twice a year for the next year or two, as new recruits join the service’s 124 members in uniform, Davis said.

“We’ve got some turnover, we’ve got some retirements, we’ve got some restructuring that’s been approved by the board,” he said. “So we’re rebuilding our organization, essentially.”

Plans are also to recognize others, including civilian staff, at future ceremonies, he said.

The four officers promoted Monday were among the first to go through a new promotion process developed last fall, officials said.

“The entire process changed because we wanted a process that everybody had faith in,” Davis said.

Promotion policy changes, along with changes to conduct, workplace human rights and harassment policies, were also made under former Chief Norm Hansen in 2021 — Davis took over as chief in 2022 — after a third-party workplace investigation report into allegations of harassment, assault and sexism in the force.

The report wasn’t released publicly, but Hansen has said it found no evidence of harassment, discrimination or workplace violence. It did, he said, find pervasive gossip throughout the department.

More recently, police brass worked with the Sarnia Police Association to develop the new promotion process, Davis said.

“We started essentially from scratch and said, ‘How do we pick the best leaders in the Sarnia service?’ ” he said.

Changes include a standardized application, merit board of peers to review applicants and new “competency-based” interviews.

“So we’ve made it fair, we’ve made it transparent, and we’ve made it so we can pick the best candidates,” he said.

It’s also a very difficult process, officials said, praising and congratulating Monday’s recipients.

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Police Exemplary Service Medal recipients

Specials

new officers

• const. Ryan Antaya
• const. Trever Forsten
• const. Michael Zottl