Saint John Prepares To Welcome New Police Chief

Saint John’s next police chief will step into his new role two weeks from Monday.

Stephan Drolet was named the next chief of the Saint John Police Force in late December.

Edward Keyes, chair of the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners, said Drolet’s leadership abilities stood out most during the hiring process.

“He’s the second-in-command of British Columbia RCMP, he’s got extensive leadership at the municipal level and the provincial level and the national level,” said Keyes.

Drolet has been with the RCMP for the past 27 years, spending most of his career in B.C. Most recently, he was the deputy criminal operations officer in that province.

He will have some big decisions to make when he starts his new job. Drolet will need to help find nearly $1.2 million in workforce-related adjustments by the end of 2020.

But Keyes said Drolet is well aware of the potential challenges which lie ahead.

“We made sure that we made full disclosure to all of the candidates that the financial realities are what they are in the City of Saint John and that was likely to be an expected outcome that they’re going to have to deal with that,” he said.

When it comes to the hiring process, Keyes said the board was pleased to see more than 70 people apply for the job.

“It’s a force with a long history and we’re looking forward to Chief Drolet coming in and leading,” he said.

Drolet will take over from interim chief Bruce Connell, who came out of retirement two years ago to replace outgoing chief John Bates.