Vince Hawkes is officially the OPP’s new commissioner.
The move was made official at a change-of-command ceremony today March 31, 2014 at the Nottawasaga Inn in Alliston.
Hawkes is the service’s 14th commissioner.
The ceremony started with both the past and present commissioners being led into the venue by the Commissioner’s Own Pipes and Drums, the OPP Ceremonial Unit, and an honour guard of 60 recruits from Orillia.
Ontario’s Lt.-Gov. David C. Onley and the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Madeleine Meilleur were among those at the ceremony as outgoing commissioner Chris Lewis passed the tipstaff – a item symbolic of the commissioner’s authority – to Hawkes.
“I am truly honoured to have been selected as the 14th OPP commissioner,” Hawkes said via a news release. “The OPP has a long history of excellence and a proud reputation for providing a policing service to our communities that is second to none. I am proud to lead our 9,000-member police service into the next chapter by building on the rich legacy of our past commissioners.”
