BRAND NEW BRASS
EPS names next chief
Edmonton’s new police chief is a reformer whose innovative approach to law and order made him well known in Canadian police circles despite working in small town Saskatchewan.
He’s a Métis man, who successfully increased Indigenous representation on his last police force. And, he has Oilers connections. Dale McFee, 53, was on Wednesday named Edmonton’s 23rd chief of police, replacing former top cop Rod Knecht.
McFee has signed a five-year contract and will start on Feb. 1. In the meantime, Deputy Chief Kevin Brezinski is serving as interim police chief.
McFee served as chief of the Prince Albert Police Service and is currently Saskatchewan’s deputy minister of corrections and policing. Originally from St. Albert, he also served as president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
“Incoming Chief Dale McFee really fits the city’s commitment to be service-focused, strategic and innovative,” police commission chairman Tim O’Brien said Wednesday. “He has experience serving in a variety of roles and is someone who earns trust and confidence, and is well-regarded by the community.”
McFee — in front of a crowd of city police employees inside headquarters Wednesday — thanked Knecht for his service.
“It’s something I feel good coming into, knowing that I’m not trying to fix something that’s broken,” McFee said.
“To the men and women I will be serving with, I don’t have all the answers, but I have a lot of good and proven ideas,” he added. “I have two ears, and one mouth, and I learned early on that listening is more than waiting for your turn to talk.”
Knecht, who finished his tenure on Oct. 31, spent close to eight years as chief before announcing in May that he would be stepping aside at the end of his term. Knecht had attempted to extend his contract but that idea was shot down by a police commission that wanted to move forward with a new chief.
After striking a five-member subcommittee, the commission hired external consultancy group Optimum Talent to help find a chief.
In 2015, McFee was a contender for the chief ’s job in Toronto but lost out to current police chief Mark Saunders. A Globe and Mail article called him a “police reformer” who gained a profile in Canadian policing after importing a successful community-policing model from Glasgow, Scotland.
A memo sent to Edmonton officers credits McFee with improving workforce diversity while chief in Prince Albert. During his tenure, the Prince Albert Police Service “became one of the most culturally represented police organizations in Canada,” achieving a workforce that was 38-per-cent Indigenous.
The force did so by approaching Indigenous leaders and asking for “endorsed candidates” who would like to train to become police officers.
“We were going to all the career fairs, we bought the nicest booth, we did all those things and the reality is it solved nothing,” he said of their earlier approach.
McFee is also a board member with the Prince Albert Raiders, and served as the organization’s president when Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl was a prospect there.
A hockey player himself, McFee earned the nickname “Mucker” in Saskatchewan because he said he’s “not afraid to go into the corners.” He used to play against Oilers coach Todd McLellan.
Edmonton Police Association president Michael Elliott said he’s pleased the commission selected a chief who has previous experience dealing with police associations and commissions.
As a Mountie, Knecht did not, and had a sometimes rocky relationship with both organizations. After he and the commission failed to agree on a contract extension, Knecht said the relationship between police leadership and civilian leaders had become “caustic.”
“We look forward to working with the new chief to turn the page and start a new chapter,” Elliott said. “We like the fact that, coming from (Prince Albert) he’s familiar with associations, working with commissions, working with city council.”
Previous association head Maurice Brodeur publicly accused
Knecht of creating a “culture of fear” among officers by doling out overly severe punishments for misconduct. McFee said he was in favour of “progressive” officer discipline.
“Let’s be very clear: we’re going to make mistakes,” he said. “We’re a large organization. I want honesty and I want integrity. I want people to tell me they made a mistake, and if that mistake is resolvable then it’s progressive discipline.”
On Tuesday, Ward 6 Coun. Scott McKeen, who also sits on the police commission, said about a dozen candidates applied for the position, but that number was whittled down to a handful.
He said McFee stood out. “I think it’s going to be a really exciting time for Edmonton and the police service,” he told reporters at city hall.
McKeen said the new chief is “the kind of cop that will not be soft on crime” and he will look at ways to reduce crime, improve calls for service and “focus on proactive community engaged policing.”
McFee will face a learning curve. The Edmonton Police Service has around 1,800 sworn officers, compared to 97 in Prince Albert. He will also have to repair relationships with some members of the LGBTQ community, and navigate the police service’s new policy of selectively naming homicide victims.
McFee’s previous jobs had challenges, too. Prince Albert regularly ranks near the top of Canada’s crime severity index, according to the Prince Albert Daily Herald. McFee said less than 20 per cent of police calls in Saskatchewan result in criminal investigations — showing that police are being asked to fill gaps in health care and social services. Despite this, he said the province’s jails are overcrowded.
McFee said Edmonton can’t expect to “arrest our way out of our troubles,” but said he is against a soft-on-crime approach.
He said he wants to get back into front-line policing, having learned more about the corrections system as deputy minister.
“If I would have known what I know now when I was policing, would I have policed differently? Absolutely,” he said.
He added he plans to meet as soon as possible with community leaders to introduce himself.