Saskatoon's police chief staying on until end of 2025; police board approves new agreement
Saskatoon police chief Troy Cooper's first five-year contract is set to end on March 1, the same day the new agreement takes effect.
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Saskatoon police chief Troy Cooper and the board of police commissioners have reached a new agreement extending his tenure to the end of 2025.
The board approved the two year and 10 month contract during its first meeting of the new year. Cooper, who was hired as the chief on Feb. 1, 2018, was under a five-year agreement set to expire on March 1, 2023.
The new agreement, carried unanimously by the board, will start March 1 and expire Dec. 31, 2025.
The board had offered him the opportunity to discuss the term of the contract, but Cooper told media after Thursday’s police board meeting that his preference was for a shorter term because the police service is developing internal capacity for leadership.
“Every leader has a lifespan when they’re most effective. I feel that that would be my lifespan, another period. I’m not quite there yet, but certainly there are a lot of things that are in progress right now that are not completed. It would be a bad time for me to walk away from the service right now,” he said.
Important efforts toward reconciliation, as well as the body-worn camera project — one of the force’s priorities in the 2023 business plan highlighted for the board on Thursday — were among the things delayed or restricted for months or years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“I wasn’t able to accomplish a lot of the things I had hoped to do in the five years. This will allow me the time to ensure that those things are accomplished before I pass the torch over to the next leader.”
When asked if this means he’s thinking about retirement, Cooper said he’s “nearing the end of my useful career as a police leader, in my view,” and thinks his role is to develop others.
Board chair Jo Custead’s third one-year term as the chair was approved at the outset of the meeting.
“Some of the new programs that you’ve brought through in the last five years have certainly been noticed, not just by the board here, but also by the rest of the country,” she told Cooper.
Mayor Charlie Clark, a board member, said it’s an extremely dynamic time to be a police chief, leader or officer.
“I’m also felt very grateful to have the personality, the approach, the community-mindedness … the combination of a strong planning mind and a strong community relation mindset,” Clark said.
Cooper told media police will find the most appropriate way to pass the torch, but he’s not going anywhere in the short term.
“We’ve got a lot of really important work to do. We need some stability in the service, coming through some of the crises that’ve experienced over the last couple years. So I’m looking forward right now to continuing some of the really great work that’s been going on.”
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Chair Jo Custead is serving her third one-year term.
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