A veteran Regina police officer with more than two decades of experience has been named as the new police chief.
On Wednesday, Regina police announced that Insp. Evan Bray will replace Troy Hagen, who has been police chief in the Queen City since 2008.
Bray has worked in policing for the last 21 years, including both front line and plain clothes sections.
“I felt like this was a natural step for me and something that I was interested in,” Bray said.
He has held various positions with the Regina Police Association, was formally President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers as well as Director of the Canadian Police Association. When asked how this will affect his role as chief,
“I’m going to say it is a 100 per cent advantage.”
Bray first joined the Regina Police Service in 1995 as a patrol constable after previously working in broadcasting.
READ MORE: Regina police Chief Troy Hagen announces retirement
He now has an Excellence in Police Leadership diploma from Harvard University/University of Ottawa.
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In 2014, Bray was appointed his current position, inspector for the North District, where he oversaw the implementation of a new traffic enforcement strategy. Bray has also served as a crisis negotiation team member and leader.
“Inspector Bray has been a fixture in our community for more than 20 years,” Mayor Michael Fougere, the Regina police board chair, said.
“He is strong, compassionate, and community-focused, both as a senior officer and a person. He is deeply committed to our city and to helping it become a safer place.”
Bray said one of his first courses of action is to take an internal look at the service. His reasoning is that in order for the public to receive the best results, the Regina police must operate as efficiently as possible. He added he has some ideas but it’s too early to comment publicly on specific actions.
“We have a very dynamic complex city that’s changing and you’ve heard Evan speak about some of the challenges that he has, and so being witness to that front line then in senior management really plays a lot into making that selection,” Fougere added.
According to Statistics Canada, Regina remains in second place for the highest police reported crime. It’s a number Bray said he’s not scared of.
“It’s a bit daunting to have that but at the same time it’s an opportunity for us to improve and to continue to tackle those issues. So I am optimistic that we’ll be able to do it,” Bray said.
Inspector Bray was unanimously chosen by the Board of Police Commission members and his title officially upgrades to Chief Bray as of Wednesday.
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