25-year veteran Nishan Duraiappah in his Halton police uniform. He is seen with his children. Son Luke (4) wearing his dad’s police cap.
Sri Lankan-born Nishan (Nish) Duraiappah will be appointed as the police chief in Peel region, Ontario, on October 1. A veteran of 25 years serving in a variety of roles, Duraiappah has been serving as deputy chief of Halton region, also in Ontario, since 2015.
He will become the first South Asian police chief in Ontario’s history as well as the first ever officer of Sri Lankan background to serve in the top cop role in North America.
Toronto Star says, “when his ancestry is a side story to his exemplary policing career..it is a great Canadian success story for a kid who came to Canada as a child and grew up in Milton (city 40 km west of Toronto Downtown) dreaming of becoming a police officer.”
Duraiappah said: “It’s truly an honour to serve the over 3,000 members of the Peel Regional Police Service as their Chief. As a team, we look forward to serving this remarkable and diverse community for many years to come.”
Peel Region is a municipality in southern Ontario consisting of three municipalities of Brampton, Mississuaga and the town of Caledon. With a population of more than 1.5 million its growth can be credited largely to immigration. A large number of Sri Lankans live in the Peel Region.
Halton where Duraiappah is serving now is a regional municipality combining Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills.
“Nish has been an incredible member and leader within the Halton Regional Police Service throughout his 25-year career and will be greatly missed,” Halton police Chief Steve Tanner said in a press release.
Calling “Nish was a star in Halton” who “was ahead of the curve on public safety initiatives,” Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said: “I have long advocated for the hiring of a chief with experience and fresh perspective on how best to handle the growing number of 911 calls that are mental health-related and gun violence in Peel Region. On these issues and many others, I have the utmost confidence Duraiappah is going to do an exceptional job for Brampton and Peel Region as our new Chief.”
The search for a new police chief began after the surprise retirement announcement by Jennifer Evans who had been Peel Region’s top cop since 2015. Though her announcement to retire came as a surprise, former chief Evan’s tenure had not been without controversies.
In 2015, she raised the ire of some community members when she defended Peel’s controversial carding policy and rejected her police board’s direction to suspend the practice until the province had studied it and come up with its own guidelines. Carding is an intelligence gathering policy of involving the stopping, questioning, and documenting of individuals when no particular offence is being investigated.
The Peel Police spent the last seven months interviewing candidates to fill the top post till they found Duraippah who will become the second police chief in Peel Region to be hired externally. – newstrails.com
