Police board names 27-year SPS veteran Cameron McBride as Saskatoon's new chief of police

Saskatoon's Board of Police Commissioners has named Cameron McBride as the city's new chief of police.

McBride, a 27-year veteran of the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS), is currently the SPS's deputy chief. He has has been with the force since 1997 in a variety of roles, including as acting chief last year when former chief Troy Cooper took a medical leave.

McBride said his focus will be on building trust.

"My style of leadership is to embrace collaboration and partnerships and relationships," said McBride, who will officially take over as chief on May 16.

"Some of the work that we do within the community is tough and it's hard, and having that relationship and that trust is so critically important."

He takes over from Dave Haye, who has been serving as the city's interim police chief.

The police board began the search for a new chief in early 2024 after former chief Troy Cooper announced his retirement.

Shirley Greyeyes, chair of the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners, said the board looked at candidates from across the country.

"We didn't choose Cam because he was from [within the department]," Greyeyes said. "We chose him because he was the best person for the job."

Greyeyes said this is someone the community can trust.

"We wanted someone who was compassionate, who was empathetic," Greyeyes said.

"I wanted someone who would actually care."

McBride recently led an in-depth review of workload and capacity for each department within the police service.

He said what stood out was the force's ability to respond to change.

"We have a very remarkable ability as an organization to see a need, reorganize, restructure and then meet that need."

Mental health calls have been rising steadily and McBride said the force now has a team consisting of a police officer and social worker assigned on every shift.

McBride said the community is concerned about rising "social disorder."

"We think about mental health struggles, we think about addictions and marginalization and poverty," he said.

"How do we work best together with the organizations that are best suited to do the work? How do we support them when we are not the lead organization?"

He cited hosting a "Calling Home ceremony", which highlighted missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as an example of reaching out to the Indigenous community, at SPS HQ on Friday.

"Those opportunities to get together with the community and to demonstrate a genuine care on the part of the police service is absolutely critical," McBride said.

"We don't do things to create a facade or a notion of trust. We're committed."