Board made right choice hiring new chief from outside

An announcement that the successful candidate in a job search was the unanimous choice and "head and shoulders" above all others is always welcome news.

That's particularly true with the hiring Scott Gilbert, a veteran Toronto Police Service officer, as Peterborough's new police chief.

It's been a turbulent five years for the Peterborough Community Police Service. City council and the Police Services Board have clashed repeatedly. So have Mayor Daryl Bennett and outgoing Chief Murray Rodd.

Rodd's retirement this summer presented an opportunity to continue what has appeared to be a smoother, more co-operative relationship between both the public bodies and the individuals who lead them.

To make the most of that opportunity it was important that the Police Services Board go outside the force for Rodd's replacement.

Mayor Bennett is back on the police board after having been booted off following a questionable provincial review of his previous behaviour. Bob Hall, a former city councillor who also clashed with Rodd during his council years, has helped smooth the waters after taking over as police board chair.

Rodd was not responsible for the early days of antagonism.

However, during several years of departures of police board members and chairs and a campaign to discredit Bennett, the "pro-police" side inevitably took on a defensive attitude that sometimes slid toward passive/aggressive.

Rodd always had a lot of public support. However, his decision along with Deputy Chief Tim Farquharson to accept controversial "severance" payments of more than $200,000 apiece when neither was ever out of work for a day was troubling.

Given all that background, someone who came up under Rodd's leadership and lived through the divisions of the past five years wouldn't be best suited to carrying on the healing process.

An outside candidate was always going to be the best choice. Chief Rodd disagreed and said publicly that while he had no influence in the decision, he believed one of four Peterborough officers who applied should get the job.

What the city gets instead is Supt. Scott Gilbert, currently the head of 52 Division in downtown Toronto.

Gilbert represents a safe departure from the old guard. He comes from a big city police force but presents a comfortable image to most of Peterborough: A middle-aged family man with five children.

His experience in Toronto has not been as different from what he will find in Peterborough as some might think. There was a time when 52 Division was one of the high-crime areas of Canada, downtown Toronto running up the Yonge St.-Spadina Ave. corridor from the lakeshore to Bloor St.

Today it is almost entirely high finance, tech and law firms, expensive condos and pricey entertainment and retail zones.

There has been one murder in the area in the past four years. Toronto's crime rate is lower than Peterborough's and 52 Division's is not particularly high there.

In his previous assignment Gilbert was superintendent of an even more peaceful, largely residential district that covered Rosedale, Forest Hill and the Annex.

Still, downtown Toronto is more diverse than Peterborough in terms of every type of minority group. Gilbert will bring valuable experience working with those non-traditional populations in a "community policing" model already established here.

He can be expected to be both a comfortable and progressive addition to the force.