Peel Police board congratulate Chief Nishan Duraiappah on appointment to Order of Ontario

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Published November 9, 2022 at 11:08 am

peel police chief nishan duraiappah
Peel Regional Police photo

The Peel Police Services Board proudly congratulated Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah on his appointment to the Order of Ontario.

Last week, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Elizabeth Dowdeswell announced the chief would receive Ontario’s highest honour, along with 23 others from across the province, in ceremony on Nov. 21.

The Order of Ontario recognizes exceptional leaders from all walks of life and diverse fields of endeavour whose impact and lasting legacy have played an important role in building a stronger province, country, and world.

A Milton resident, Duraiappah began his career with Halton Regional Police Service in December 1995. He was promoted to Deputy Chief of HRPS in 2015.

The Peel Police Services Board said they hired Duraiappah in 2019 “to usher in a new era of policing in Peel and across Canada.”

Born in Sri Lanka, Duraiappah is the highest ranking South Asian police officer in Ontario and the first Sri-Lankan Canadian of his rank across North America.

Chief Duraiappah’s upbringing in Canada after his parents immigrated from Sri Lanka, along with his 34 years in policing “prepared him to take on the challenge of implementing an important mandate for reform and achieving the ambitious strategic goal of making the Peel Police Service the most progressive and innovative in Canada,” the police board said in a press release.

With only three years on the job as Peel Police Chief, he has implemented sweeping changes including pioneering a community safety and well-being strategy and its modernization through innovation and technology.

“Chief Duraiappah has not shied away from the goal of eliminating systemic racism, including anti-Black racism in policing through a ground-breaking Memorandum of Understanding with the Ontario Human Rights Commission with the goal of promoting transparency and improving racialized communities’ trust in policing,” the board stated.

Under his watch, Peel Region has once again ranked amongst the safest communities in Canada, according to Stats Canada 2021 Police-Reported Crime Statistics in Canada.

Chief Duraiappah is the President of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. He has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and is an Officer of the Order of Merit Canada.

“The Peel Police Services Board is proud of Chief Duraiappah’s accomplishments and the positive impact his leadership has had on policing in Canada,” the board said.

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