Windsor Police Chief Jason Bellaire announces retirement

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Windsor Police Chief Jason Bellaire has announced his retirement.

Bellaire, who has helmed the force for nearly three years, will end his career in November.

In a written statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Windsor Police Services Board congratulated Bellaire on his pending retirement.

“The board thanks the chief for his many years of service to our community and appreciates the lead-time provided to allow the board to undertake a robust recruitment process to find the next leader of the Windsor Police Service,” the statement said.

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The board will discuss the matter at its next regular meeting “and work to establish a recruitment pathway at that time.”

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for March 20.

Bellaire took over from Chief Pam Mizuno, who vacated the position on March 31, 2022, halfway through a five-year contract. He served as interim chief for eight months before the board officially named him the force’s new top cop.

Bellaire is a 29-year veteran of the department who previously worked as a deputy chief overseeing operational strategies. Before that, he served as an inspector of patrol response and was the first point of contact for groups in Windsor and Amherstburg.

In a year-end interview with the Star, Bellaire said he was working to leverage technology to fight crime in the city and expand its community partnerships to tackle social issues at their roots.

Under Bellaire’s leadership, Windsor police launched and expanded the Nurse and Police Team, a collaboration with Windsor Regional Hospital that sees officers and nurses hit the streets together to tend to people in need of non-emergency care.

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The force also launched the Crisis Response Team in partnership with Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare to replace two existing police-social work teams that had been in place since 2009. The replacement team has police officers trained in crisis intervention paired with social workers who have expertise in mental health and de-escalation to help people with mental illness, substance use, and behavioural disorders, and people in acute crisis.

Another collaboration under Bellaire sees the force work with local social service agencies to provide faster support to victims of intimate partner violence.

Last summer, the service launched an innovative crime-fighting and social services mission in the Glengarry neighbourhood, a top location for violent crime in the city. The force stationed officers inside an apartment building 24/7 and held outreach events on-site, after which residents told the Star they’d noticed positive change and police reported a drop in violent crimes and drug crimes in the area.

A few months later, Windsor police began another high-visibility initiative at a troubled Ouellette Avenue apartment complex.

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