THUNDER BAY – With Ryan Hughes stepping into the role of deputy chief with the Thunder Bay Police Service, the police chief and Police Services Board chair believe his 21 years of policing experience will provide the Service with the stability to move forward, and having been a long-serving member of the local service, the knowledge of where it needs to go.
“I think that from a standpoint from the organization, having someone from within really offers strong qualities and understands the journey we have been on and where we need to go,” said Thunder Bay Police Service chief, Sylvie Hauth. “I think that will bring to the table a very strong skill set.”
Hughes was officially sworn in as deputy chief during a ceremony at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Thursday.
Having risen through the ranks with the Thunder Bay Police Service and the York Regional Police, Hughes reached the rank of detective inspector with the Criminal Investigation Branch, but he said the goal of deputy chief was only something that recently entered his mind.
“When I was in high school and a kid, I just wanted to be a police officer arresting bad guys,” he said. “Did I ever think I would be deputy chief? No. Within the last several years with the hard work and my experiencing different things in society and the work environment, my goal was to going as high as I can and deputy chief was a goal.”
Don Lewis was serving as the acting deputy chief since former police chief, J.P. Levesque, retired in April 2018. Lewis himself retired in May of this year and Hauth said she is relieved to have the position permanently filled.
“It’s nice to have that second-in-command with me so we can bounce off ideas and work together,” she said. “I think it offers to our service a lot of stability. It gives us the opportunity now to work as a team in tandem toward common goals and getting organized and moving forward. That stability will be important. We have a lot of work to do.”
According to Celina Reitberger, chair of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, six people interviewed for the position and many more applied. But the hiring committee found that Hughes stood above the rest.
“I think his experience speaks for itself,” she said. “He’s done a lot of very important work for the force and he is the best man for the job. No doubt about it.”
“I think he has a very broad perspective but also great qualities,” Hauth added. “He’s very perseverant, he’s very dedicated, and he really understands where we’ve been as a service and where we need to go and I think that makes a good team when we are on the same page.”
Prior to being sworn in, Hughes participated in a smudging ceremony in the Indigenous People’s Courtroom, which Reitberger said speaks to his dedication to reconciliation.
“He’s very sympathetic. He’s very open to moving forward,” she said. “I was very pleased with the smudging ceremony he agreed to attend. It was very moving. It was an exercise in reconciliation and I am very pleased he was part of that.”
Hughes said the relationship between the Police Service and the Indigenous community is important and he wants the service to be transparent and accepting of all cultures.
He is also hoping to make other changes that would make the Police Service a more efficient organization.
“Throughout my career as I was moving up through the ranks, I saw changes I wanted to make and I wanted to provide support and the tools for the officers to make an efficient police service,” he said. “Those will be decisions I will make in the near future. We want to serve the public to the best of our ability. We want to be transparent and continue to work hard for all community members and make Thunder Bay feel safe.”
Reitberger said she anticipates there may be some criticism directed at the Police Service and the Board for hiring internally, but she believes the hiring committee selected the best candidate for the position.
“I thought about the past and hiring people from out of town in the past and it always hasn’t been the great success that people some to think that someone from outside can do a better job or someone from outside can take over and shape us all up,” she said. “We are going to shape ourselves up and I am very confident Ryan will have a role to play in that.”
The Thunder Bay Police Service is currently seeking candidates to fill the role of Det. Insp. with the Criminal Investigation Branch.
