Search for top cop went national
New WVPD Chief Const. Peter Lepine.
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Updated: August 26, 2009 12:34 PM
After a national search, the West Vancouver police department will have a new police chief.
Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones said headhunting firm Pinton Forrest & Madden found Coquitlam top cop Peter Lepine after a five-month hunt.
Lepine will replace former police chief Kash Heed after he resigned in February to run for the Liberals in the provincial election. Jim Almas has served as interim chief and will pass the torch to Lepine on Sept. 14.
“We actually interviewed all sorts of people in the community – council, the police board, all sorts of stakeholder groups – for what we were looking for,” said Goldsmith-Jones. “This was a national search.”
Lepine, currently the top cop at the Coquitlam RCMP detachment, has served 30 years with the Mounties at posts in Surrey, Port Alberni, Parksville and Halifax.
Goldsmith-Jones said Lepine’s experience with community partnerships made him a top candidate in a long list of 20 applicants.
“We are very, very committed to community-based policing,” said Goldsmith-Jones of the police board and West Vancouver residents. “It’s so important for us to maintain our local identity.”
Goldsmith Jones also said Lepine’s appointment will not delay the Police Act investigation into suspended WVPD Const. Griffin Gillan, who was convicted last month for the drunken assault of a delivery man outside the Vancouver Hyatt last winter.
Insp. Sheila Sullivan is the disciplinary authority in the matter, Goldsmith-Jones said, and the investigation won’t be halted by the new appointment. The hearing will be held some time this fall.
kmcmanus@northshoreoutlook.com
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