A Halton police deputy chief has been selected as the new Peel police chief, the Peel police board announced on Friday.
Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah will start his new role as police chief on Oct. 1.
"It's truly an honour to serve the over 3,000 members of the Peel Regional Police Service as their Chief," said Duraiappah in a statement. "As a team, we look forward to serving this remarkable and diverse community for many years to come."
According to Peel police, Duraiappah has been in the service for 24 years and has held various roles, including Guns and Gangs Unit, and District Criminal Investigations. He began his career with Halton police in Dec. 1995.
He has also worked as Halton Regional Police’s Diversity and Cultural Relations Coordinator.
Duraiappah was promoted to deputy chief in 2015, where he leads district operation for all four Halton municipalities.
He was born in Sri Lanka, and immigrated to Canada, according to his profile on the Halton police website.
Duraiappah pursued policing, Halton police said, after he participated in the service’s police ethnic and cultural education program when he was in high school.
Nando Iannicca, the Chair of the Peel Police Service Board, said in a statement that Duraiappah represents the next generation of leadership for the service.
"The community we all serve expects nothing less than the highest degree of duty and integrity – the very qualities we saw in Deputy Chief Duraiappah during the hiring process," Iannicca said.
The Peel police board said it spent seven months interviewing numerous candidates for the position.
Halton police has also congratulated Duraiappah and said in a statement that many of his initiatives had a positive impact on their members.
"Both personally and on behalf of all members of the HRPS, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Deputy Duraiappah on the great accomplishment in being named the next Chief of Police of the Peel Regional Police," said Halton police Chief Stephen Tanner.
Duraiappah will become only the second Police Chief in Peel Region to be hired externally.
