Just as her father had foretold,
policing has been an exciting ride for S/Supt. Kimberley Greenwood.
The 30-year Toronto veteran is starting
the next chapter in that journey, having just been named the next police chief
of the Barrie Police Service.
“This is an opportunity for me to
advance policing in Ontario at the executive level” Greenwood says.
“I have always wanted to do the best
job I could in the position or rank I was at, and whenever opportunities came
up, I took them.”
She says the post as top cop in Barrie,
which she starts on March 26, is a chance to lead a dynamic police service in a
growing city of 141,000 that still feels like a small community. The Barrie
Police Service is made up of over 240 police officers and 100 civilians.
“Our choice was shaped from Kimberley
Greenwood’s enormous depth of experience and leadership abilities,” said Doug
Jure, Chair of City of Barrie Police Services Board.
“This is the right time for Barrie to
have a chief who has the operations and management skills to build innovative,
cost-effective solutions within Barrie Police Service.”
Greenwood’s father, Ronald Meadows, who
retired as a Toronto staff inspector in 1991, always expounded on the merits of
the job.
“My brother and I grew up hearing all
the thrilling tales from our father,” said Greenwood, who started with the
Service as a cadet in 1981, right out of high school despite being accepted to
the University of Toronto. She became an officer in 1983.
“It’s been such an exhilarating career.
Every day has brought something different.”
Greenwood said she has seen the impact
of the job on a large scale and among individuals.
As Staff Superintendent in charge of
Central Field Command, she has been responsible for a $249 million budget,
2,132 police officers and 115 civilians.
“As police officers, we don’t always
see the results of what we do immediately but this organization has the ability
to make significant change and it has made our city safe,” Greenwood says.
She knows well that the work of a
police officer can be heartbreaking and rewarding on the front lines. She
remembers well the horrific stories she came across as a family violence and
victimization investigator in late 80s and early 90s.
“Every once in a while, I still have
contact with a couple of victims of child abuse. It’s nice to know they were
able to recover from those childhood experiences and go on confidently and have
a family of their own,” says Greenwood, who sought out to work with children as
a police officer, just as she had done in her summer jobs such as a camp
counsellor.
She later moved to the Community
Response Unit, as a sergeant and staff sergeant, where she learned the
fundamentals of community policing the city employs today.
She had the chance to lead such efforts
as the second-in-charge at 23 Division, working with Superintendent Ron
Taverner, and as unit commander at 51 Division, working with now-S/Insp. Heinz
Kuck. At the Division, she oversaw the summer program that brought additional
officers to help patrol and create community contacts in Regent Park as part of
the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy.
“The community really wanted us in the
area. They were ready for the enforcement piece of the strategy and, when we
followed up with engagement, they fully embraced the concept,” says Greenwood,
of the model that is still used today.
She says officers help the community to
mobilize their own grassroots efforts to make their communities safer has been
a successful strategy. A surge of over 300 officers as part of the Summer
Safety Initiative, in response to gun violence last summer, was effective in
quelling violence and creating community initiatives to prevent further
violence.
“It does make a difference to have
police officers in our neighbourhoods,” Greenwood says.
Greenwood is looking forward to the
next chapter in her career, as does her husband, former Toronto Detective
Sergeant James Greenwood, who retired this year, and her daughter and son.
“She thinks it’s pretty cool” Greenwood
says, of her daughter’s reaction to becoming the first woman to take the helm
as Barrie Chief. Nonetheless, Greenwood says she has never defined herself by
being a woman and only wanted to be judged on her job performance. She was the
first woman on her platoon and one of four at 12 Division when she began her
policing career. One of her first partners, now-retired Sgt. Larry Cowl, made
her feel at home on the job.
“We were partners, that’s how he
treated me, that’s how I hoped I would be treated, not any differently than
anyone else,” she recalls.
Greenwood said she will miss the people
of the Toronto Police Service from bottom to top. “We have amazing leaders in
this organization that I have learned so much from,” said Greenwood, noting
Chief Bill Blair, current and retired command and senior officers. She
currently works alongside Deputy Chief Peter Sloly and acting S/Supt Tom
Russell, whom she credits for their leadership.
For his part, Deputy Chief Sloly
praised Greenwood for her good work.
“The Toronto Police Service is losing
one of its most compassionate, caring and committed leaders, Kimberley
Greenwood,” Sloly said.
“She has an unmatched work ethic and
the type of people skills which make her a morale-builder, motivator and role-model.”
Greenwood would like to acknowledge her
home team – husband and children – without their continued support,
understanding and sacrifices she would not be able to be here today.
Greenwood says her office team that
includes Neena Sharifibadi and S/Sgt. Peter Code have been an inspiration for
their commitment and tireless efforts. She credits Lynn Harrison, while she led
51 Division, and Landi Haderaj, while she was unit commander at the Toronto
Police College, for the same work.
“I may have had the rank but they had
the tenacity and ability to make things happen.”
Acting S/Supt. Tom Russell says
Greenwood is an inclusive and tireless leader. “She’s a very ethical person,
responsible, accountable and honest. She’s fair and she does expect the same
thing from the people she works with,” Russell says.
“One of the first things I learned
about Kimberley is she is energized. She is a leader who connects with people
by creating a sense of us. She understands the power of collaboration to find
solutions to the problem.”
Beyond her day-to-day duties, Greenwood
has led the Toronto Police World Police & Fire Games bid, led Service
planning for the 2015 Pan Am Games, the Integrated Records Information System
and co-chaired the Chinese Community Consultative Committee. She credits the
work of the many Toronto Police officers, civilians and volunteers with making
the efforts successful.
Greenwood has been awarded the Queen
Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Ontario Women in Law Enforcement (OWLE)
Long Service award and the Police Exemplary Service Medal and Bar by the
Governor General of Canada. She recently graduated from the University of
Guelph Humber and completed her Bachelor of Applied Arts in Justice Studies.
She has also completed the Police Leadership Executive Program at the
University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She has lately been
accredited the Certified Municipal Manager (CMMIII) Accreditation with the
OACP.
