Greenwood new Barrie Chief

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.

Source