After nearly a decade with the force, the chief of the Woodstock Police Service will be retiring early next year.
The Woodstock Police Service Board announced that Chief Bill Renton will be leaving, effective January 31, 2020. The board says with the accrued time from his years of service, Renton’s last actual day at work will be June 14 of this year.
Chief Renton joined Woodstock Police as inspector of operations in July 2010 and was named chief of police in January 2015.
He has been heavily involved in some high-profile local investigations, as the major case manager in the investigation of the murder of 8-year-old Victoria Stafford in 2009.
He assisted in the recent multi-jurisdictional investigation by Woodstock, London Police and the OPP in the long-term care home investigation of Woodstock nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer.
Watch: the Elizabeth Wettlaufer investigation
Before joining the Woodstock Police he had 30 years of experience with the Ontario Provincial Police.
The board will begin the process to find its next police chief immediately, accepting applicants both internally and externally.