WANTED: Experienced cops in Mississauga, Brampton as Peel police face recruiting challenge
Published October 25, 2024 at 3:13 pm
Faced with “ongoing recruitment challenges,” Peel Regional Police are actively looking to other police forces for experienced officers to join their ranks.
The hiring strategy “marks a significant shift” for Ontario’s second-largest police force (third-largest in Canada), Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said, and comes in response to fewer Ontario Police College graduates being available to beef up Peel’s complement of front-line officers each year.
Speaking at the last Peel Police Services Board meeting, both Duraiappah and Peel Deputy Chief Mark Dapat brought members up to speed on the latest on the recruitment front.
Dapat said the force has launched a formal campaign “to recruit experienced officers from other services, aiming to address ongoing recruitment challenges.”
He told board members 14 experienced officers from other forces had been hired as of the end of August.
Dapat noted that while recruiting experienced officers from other police agencies “isn’t ideal, it is often more cost-effective than training new graduates” from the police college.
Moving forward, Duraiappah said he’d keep the board updated as more such hires are made.
A new Peel Regional Police hiring strategy “marks a significant shift” in how ranks were previously beefed up, says Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah.
Peel police are committed to bringing on board a total of some 200 new officers by the end of the year, Dapat said, “despite limitations in seat allocations at the Ontario Police College.”
Currently, Peel police receive 55 “seats” for each of the four police college intakes each year, meaning 220 graduates are available annually to join Peel’s ranks.
Faced with a dire need to add new officers as Mississauga and Brampton — particularly the latter — continue to grow, Duraiappah said Peel police are pushing the college and province for a fifth yearly intake, which would add 55 new recruits to the ranks in Peel every 12 months.
Police force needs to match Peel’s growth
The number of Ontario Police College “seats” set aside for Peel police in 2025 isn’t yet known, police brass said.
In emphasizing the need for additional police recruits in the immediate years ahead in Peel, Duraiappah referenced a letter from Region of Peel council that points to a “critical need to increase officer numbers to maintain effective policing in the region.”
Officials anticipate Peel police will need to recruit an additional 250 new officers each year (based on an estimated 10 per cent annual growth in Peel’s population) to its complement of 2,500 sworn officers in order to match growth and policing demands.
Not only are Peel police facing the challenge of meeting the needs of a growing population, Duraiappah added, but the force is also preparing for “a wave of retirements expected over the next five years as many officers hired 30 years ago approach retirement age.”
Peel police say they offer competitive salaries in addition to a comprehensive health benefits package for both sworn and civilian positions.
Annual salaries are:
- Cadet, Second Class — $51,741
- Cadet, First Class — $56,914
- Recruit Constable — $62,088
- Constable, Fourth Class — $72,436
- Constable, Third Class — $82,785
- Constable, Second Class — $93,132
- Constable, First Class — $111,584