It's been nearly 20 years since Denis Lavoie hung up his police uniform.
Today, the retired police officer and former chief was at his first Timmins Police Services Board meeting in decades. This time he's the acting chief, an interim role he took while the board searches for a new top cop.
Lavoie is six days into the role and has spent the past week meeting with staff and getting up to speed on the technology that's been introduced to the department since he retired in July 2004.
He also finds himself in a familiar place.
Lavoie was Timmins Police chief from 1997-2004.
In the late '90s there was the call for OPP costing to explore the potential savings or extra cost of dissolving the municipal police service and switching to OPP. Following that, he says a lot of officers left the Timmins Police.
"But we worked through that. And we raised our numbers, our staffing levels, and we actually thrived and survived. So we can do it. We did it then and we can do it now," he says.
One of the approaches back then, he says, was one-on-one conversations with staff to drive home that Timmins is a great place to work and raise families, and that there were better days ahead.
"That's that's the way we approached it. And it was a buy-in from from the ones who were there. And we did overcome all those issues," he says, acknowledging there was a bigger pool of candidates wanting to get into policing at that time.
He's confident that the service can do it again.
"The officers who are committed to this service are the ones who are going to make it happen. Simple as that."
Timmins Police is going to keep aggressively recruiting, says Lavoie, who would also like to see more direct hires from other police forces so that officers can get to work right away.
Lavoie's return to Timmins Police was announced earlier this month.
SEE: Former chief Lavoie temporarily taking over top spot at Timmins Police
In November, Dan Foy, who had been the top cop since February 2022, suddenly retired.
After that, Henry Dacosta was named acting police chief and Darren Dinel was the acting deputy chief. With Lavoie's temporary appointment, Dacosta returns to his role as deputy chief and Dinel returns to his position as an inspector.
Days before Foy — who had been in the position for less than two years — retired last month, the Timmins Police Association voted overwhelmingly in favour of asking the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) for help to address the staffing crisis and public and officer safety concerns that come with it.
The OCPC is a third-party agency that can conduct investigations and resolve disputes about the oversight and provision of policing services.
Lavoie's first day back as interim chief was on Jan. 8. He expects to be in the role until some time in March.
While he has been enjoying retirement, when the board planted the seed about temporarily returning — he answered the call.
"I had the time and (I'm) very passionate about this police service. So anything that I can do to help, that's how I took it, and I accepted the offer," he says.
His mandate is simple, he says: Go in and help the current administration and board with the day-to-day operations of the service.
"It was very surreal coming in here on the first day, actually, I almost went to the old building the Monday morning instead of here. Policing has changed dramatically over the years. We didn't have homelessness back then or the opioid crisis or the shootings that you see nowadays. Even the day-to-day operations in the office itself has changed dramatically. Everything's computer computerized. But I'm adapting and learning, it's a steep learning curve, but I am adapting," says Lavoie.
During the board meeting, Steve Black congratulated Lavoie on his return.
“It’s really an honour to have you come back and join the service again, and hopefully help us get things back to where we want them to be,” said Black.
The hunt for a new chief
The Timmins Police Services Board has hired a headhunter — Waterhouse Executive Search — to help choose the next chief. The cost to use the firm is more than $20,000, says board chair Kraymr Grenke.
"It's a well-worth investment on our front, and it also comes with a replacement guarantee," he says.
The ideal candidate can be from another service or an internal promotion, says Grenke.
During the closed portion of today's meeting, he said the consultant would be participating.
"I want to ask the consultant today do we have official interest in this. But also, you know, the consultant is making calls on our behalf and seeking interest from candidates as well, so we're looking to hear that feedback from the consultant today," he says.
The posting for the chief's position is available here.
