Katie McLellan was officially sworn in as the new Calgary Police Service Chief Constable on May 7, marking a transformation in senior leadership within CPS.

Her swearing in as chief followed news that two of the most senior members of the service, Deputy Chief Chad Tawfik and Deputy Chief Raj Gill had both resigned from the service and retired.

Speaking to the media on Wed., Chief McLellan said that while the change is sudden, the service was dedicated to a seamless transition of leadership.

“The mission of the Calgary Police Service remains the same, to continue delivering exceptional public service and to help make Calgary the best safest city and the country with the best police service,” McLellan said.

“We have been open about the fact there are challenges facing our service, the biggest one being resource shortages across the service, particularly on the front line. Our leadership team has been exploring immediate solutions to address this over the short and long term, to support the front line in attending calls for service from the public, and we continue to look at ways we can modernize our service delivery and improve our overall service to Calgarians.”

Superintendent Cliff O’Brien and Superintendent Asif Rashid have both been promoted to deputy chiefs within the service.

Deputy Chief Rashid will be taking charge of the Bureau of Investigative Support, which was previously occupied by Chief McLellan, while Deputy Chief O’Brien will be leading the Bureau of Community Policing.

Executive Director Katherine Murphy has been promoted to Chief Strategy Officer and General Council for the service, and will also be heading the Bureau of Organizational Performance, previously run by Deputy Chief Tawfik.

“With this exceptionally strong leadership team, I’m confident we are in safe and steady hands,” said Chief McLellan.

When asked by members of the media about the reasons for the departures of both deputy chiefs, Chief McLellan said that it was a personnel matter.

“I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank them both for their significant contributions to public safety in Canada,” McLellan said.

Deputy Chief Tawfik was awarded a Member of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces medal, while Deputy Chief Gill was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

Chief McLellan first joined the Calgary Police Service in 1987, after serving as a summer student with the victims’ assistance unit in 1986. She has served roles in both the RCMP and in corporate security consulting.

She said that Calgary Police Commission had been supportive of her becoming the new chief of police, with the commission itself indicating that it would not be undergoing a search for a permanent replacement in the near term.

“Certainly, we’ve had a couple of early conversations. It’s early days… I’m anticipating that we will sit down and have a conversation about more specific mandates. But again, it will be seamless. I will continue to do the work that we have been doing, and to continue to deliver the best service,” she said.

Big challenges ahead and CPS is ready to tackle them said the Chief

Among the major events identified by Chief McLellan as a priority for the service in the coming months were the Calgary Stampede and the G7 meeting of world leaders.

On the latter, she said that it was taking a higher priority for the service. Currently, the Westwinds campus is being mobilized with law enforcement and military personnel ahead of the conference in June.

“Obviously competing priorities, but G7 right now is our number one priority. All of the executive leadership team have been involved in those conversations, obviously at different levels and with respect to different operations and so forth that’s going on, but we have all been at the table,” McLellan said.

“We’ve all had the conversations that will be a seamless transition as well. There’s a fantastic team of our members and other partners who are there. They’ve been working on this for over a year and a half.”

Chief McLellan also said that she was working on relationships with both of Calgary’s police associations, and that work would continue with those association officials and union representatives.

“We will continue to work at that. We will continue to create a workplace where people want to come to work, where they feel valued, where they feel appreciated, and we will continue to listen and learn. We’ll roll up our sleeves. We’ll be at the table. We may have some differing of opinions, but people will be heard, and their voices will be heard,” she said.