President’s Message:

Futureproofing our Police Organizations: A Leader’s Privilege and Responsibility

By Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie, OACP President

Over the past year, I have had many interesting conversations with Ontario police leaders and nationally about the future state of policing. Some of the dialogue was positive, even aspirational, while the common theme had a tone of uncertainty. The policing environment is constantly evolving, and the requirement for our services to remain “adequate and effective” is a priority. But what does adequate and effective, even relevant, look like? Have you ever paused to actually reflect on that question and think about how we equip our police organizations for the future? What is your plan? Do you have one?

The good news is that police leaders are particularly good at adapting to our environment. Some might say that we are experts in that space as we continuously navigate public safety responsibilities. I look around and see great bench strength in leadership; police leaders who care – who want the best for their members and community; strategic minds that are ready and willing to innovate, think differently and adapt. A police leader’s privilege and responsibility are to learn from the past, excel in the present and prepare for the future. We must always have an eye on futureproofing our organizations for sustainability, effectiveness, relevancy and building a strong organizational culture that brings out the best in our people.

Policing is a challenging profession. This is punctuated by the evolving expectations of police members and those we serve, increasing complexities of crime and social disorder impacts, politics, funding challenges, technology… the list goes on. So, as a police leader, how do you futureproof your organization to be its best? It starts with being mindful about what lies ahead, understanding and influencing the very things that you can control.

CONFERENCE FOCUS

This sentiment is why I was adamant about having a future-focused theme for the 2025 OACP Annual Conference. There, we will dive into important conversations about succession planning, executive leadership development, generational differences, recruitment challenges and strategies, organizational culture, the importance of strategic foresight, the impacts and opportunities related to technology and a focus on what is possible and positive in this great profession. Let me take a moment to reflect on some of these areas.

Succession Planning – A couple questions come to mind: Do you have a plan for your organization? Are you building capacity throughout your ranks to step into leadership roles, even your role? Have you engaged your leadership team and board on this? The reality is that in the absence of a plan and strategy, you are setting your organization up for uncertainty, weakness and missed opportunities. These are critical conversations that must be had. At the conference, we hope to not only scratch the surface, but to also generate important dialogue, connection and support around the future of your organization and the importance of commitment to executive leadership development programming.

Generational Differences – Do you know who your future workforce is? I did not, until I had the opportunity to be part of the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Pathways to Policing initiative, whereby I was able to connect with focus groups and Gen Zs to understand their perspectives, expectations and needs. I have also led our provincial recruitment and marketing campaign throughout 2024 and 2025. This work highlights how different our workforce is becoming and the absolute need to maintain pace with what future employees want from a policing career.

We must understand these generational differences and intentionally meet our future workforce where they are, not where we expect them to be, according to our own experience and perspective. Our police recruitment and marketing strategy focuses on these differences, and the process and outcomes of identifying the best strategy was enlightening. We look forward to sharing the campaign with you at our conference and providing you with strategies and tools to localize what we have built to attract talent to your organizations.

“ FUTUREPROOFING OUR POLICE ORGANIZATIONS IS AN EXCITING YET COMPLEX UNDERTAKING. IT WILL TAKE ALL OF US. ”

— DEPUTY CHIEF ROGER WILKIE

Organizational Culture – Attracting talent to our organizations is a priority, but so is retaining that talent. We learned through our marketing campaign work about the absolute importance of a healthy workplace culture, not only to attract talent, but to keep it. If police leaders do not work alongside their police board to invest in and create that ideal culture, you are doing a disservice to your organization, members and communities. Taking care of the inside of your house is always a priority investment, and it reaps many benefits. We hope to generate some meaningful dialogue about culture at our conference and have invited panellists who will help us all think a little differently about why and how we can effect positive change.

Strategic Foresight – Dedicating time to think about what the future may hold is a promising practice for modern leaders. Creating awareness and space for you and your team to examine and respond to the connection between factors external to public safety and how they can impact society, today and in the future, can maximize your relevancy and effectiveness. We have seen how issues in Canada and world have come to have a significant impact on us and our organizations locally.

SEISMIC SHIFTS

Similarly, seismic shifts in public policy, the complexity of emerging social disorder issues, the speed at which technology advances and innovation efforts are something that every leader and organization must have an eye on.

The OACP’s recent investments in an Artificial Intelligence Committee, advocacy for examining grant and funding systems and our justice modernization efforts are just a few of the many ways in which we are prioritizing a different way of thinking. We also look forward to hearing from esteemed police leaders at our annual conference about the importance of carving out time to look around the corner and preparing your organization to respond and thrive in a rapidly evolving environment.

Futureproofing our police organizations is an exciting yet complex undertaking. It will take all of us. Sharing what we know and learn, having the humility to understand that we do not know everything, demonstrating courage to take calculated risks and reflecting on how we can either be part of the problem or the solution: this is a police leader’s privilege and responsibility.

Thank you all for dedicating yourselves to the noble profession of policing. Leading in these challenging times defines your character and demonstrates your commitment to a calling that is bigger than you as individuals. I am honoured to work alongside you in this space and look forward to collectively futureproofing our organizations to maximize our impact and set our members and communities up for success.

I hope to see you in June at the annual conference at Blue Mountain.

Take care of yourself and one another.

Roger Wilkie is Deputy Chief with Halton Regional Police Service and served as OACP President in 2024-25.

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Bail Compliance: A public safety priority

Strategic Wellness in Policing: The TPS model for member mental health

Commitment to Safety: The WRPS Stratified Policing Model

Policing in the Shadow of Canada’s Homelessness and Toxic Drug Crises

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What We Can Learn in Policing from Wildfires

The Complexity of Police Leadership

Countering Incivility, Harassment, and Discrimination in Policing

The Leadership Imperative: Leader development in Ontario

THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP IN POLICING

Connect, Lead, Inspire

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