Chatham-Kent has a new deputy police chief.
An emotional Kirk Earley was sworn in on Tuesday in council chambers in front of a packed house that included family and friends.
He takes over for the retired Jeff Littlewood. Earley has been a police officer in Chatham-Kent for 23 years.
An emotional Kirk Earley was sworn-in as deputy police chief in front of a packed house that included family and friends. January 21, 2020. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
He has aspirations of sitting in the chief's chair one day but for now, he will work with Chief Gary Conn to push forward the community policing agenda and learn from the chief's leadership.
"Learn the [police services] board side and there's a council side and the budget is definitely a huge aspect, making sure we're fiscally responsible, which is definitely a learning curve," said Earley.
Earley said he will always miss being on patrol and helping people but realizes it's time to broaden his horizons and help in other ways.
"Being on the road and in a cruiser as well as my time in the crime unit, you see a lot of things you don't want to see but there's a lot of things you take from it too and you can help someone," he said.
Chief Conn said Earley is the right person for the job because "if you don't believe the messenger, you won't believe the message" and that says plenty about him.
"It reflects upon his integrity, his credibility and all of that. He has worked hard over the years. The most important asset we have in our organization is our people," Conn said.
Earley said one of his top priorities is to make sure his officers are thriving and healthy in order to properly take care of the community.
Mike Domony was also promoted to Inspector. Matt Stezycki, Mike Pearce, and Jason Chickowski were promoted to Staff Sergeants while Aaron Medenblik was promoted to Sergeant.
