Formed 1970 | Sworn members 246 | |
Motto Committed to Community Needs Legal personality Governmental: Government agency General nature Law enforcement
Civilian agency Headquarters 1200 Balmoral Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario | ||
The Thunder Bay Police Service is the police force for the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and also contracts to police the contiguous municipality of Oliver Paipoonge. The police force has a service area of 679 km2 (262 sq mi) with a population of 114,897. The force has 222 sworn officers, 198 per 100,000 people, which is 6 more than the provincial average of 192. The Chief of Police is John Paul (JP) Levesque.
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The force is established and operates under the authority of the Police Services Act of Ontario. The Act requires the police force to be governed by a five-member civilian "Police Services Board". The mayor has the option to sit on the board by virtue of office. At least two members must be members of council. A third member is appointed by council from the community and the remaining two members are appointed by the Province of Ontario. The current board chair is municipal councillor Joe Virdiramo. The remaining members are mayor Keith Hobbs, community member Jackie Dojack, and provincial appointees Allan Laakkonen and Debra Johnsen. City of Thunder Bay Clerk John Hannam acts as the Board Secretary.
History
Thunder Bay Police was formed in 1970, a result of the amalgamation of the cities of Port Arthur and Fort William and their respective police forces. The force was originally headquartered in the Fort William Police station, which is now the home of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum. The headquarters was relocated to 1200 Balmoral Street in 1987 and the entire agency was under one roof by 1993. The 9-1-1 emergency service was implemented in the summer of 1986.
Branches
The force is made up of six branches: administration, uniform patrol, criminal investigation, neighourhood policing, resource centre, and traffic.
Uniform patrol includes an emergency task unit/containment team and K9 Unit. Criminal investigation includes street gang, property crime, crime scene, and fraud units, an intelligence section and a crime analyst. Neighbourhood policing centres are located in both of Thunder Bay's urban cores and in six suburban neighbourhoods.