By michelle-lee The Afro News Ontario
Peter Sloly Deputy Chief of the Executive Command of the Toronto Police Service
The Toronto Police Services Board announced the appointment of Staff Superintendent Peter Sloly as Deputy Chief of the Executive Command of the Toronto Police Service. Sloly brings a wealth of education and experience to the position. He holds a BA in Sociology from McMaster University, a Masters in Business Administration from York University’s Schulich School of Business and he is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He has 21 years of police service and it is believed he is the youngest officer in the country to have achieved this position. Although Sloly has many supporters, many of whom believe he could be Toronto’s first Black Police Chief, he also has his critics who say the rank of Deputy is more typical of an officer who has completed 30-45 years of service. Sloly responded to his critics by saying, “…. I think I’m only a couple of years younger than the most powerful man in the free world”, referring to US President Barack Obama. “If you are required to be in a place for a certain amount of time, I guess I don’t hit that benchmark. If it’s about experience, and adding value to help build the police service into the best it can be, then I think I hit that benchmark”, he added.
Peter Sloly was born in Jamaica and came to Canada with his parents in 1976, a few days shy of his 10th birthday. He played professional soccer with the Toronto Blizzard and was a member of the Canadian National Soccer Team.
He is the recipient of many awards including; the prestigious African Canadian Achievement Award (ACAA) for Excellence in Law, which he received earlier this year; the UN Peacekeeping Medal; Canadian Peacekeeping Medal; Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence; and the Member of the Order of Merit. He has a commendable record of community service including his involvement with the Association of Black Law Enforcers, Covenant House, and the Kosovo United Nations Peacekeeping mission. In Kosovo he served as Command Staff Officer and Canadian Contingent Commander. He said he learned a valuable lesson in Kosovo. “We had 40,000 personnel on the ground. There were 10,000 police officers there from 53 countries. It was the most heavily militarized zone in the world. And even with that force capacity we couldn’t prevent the violence”. He says the lesson he learned was that “force alone will not keep the peace.”
Sloly’s advice to young people is “Stay in school. Get an education. Find good mentors – good days are coming”.
