After more than 40 years serving the public through the police service, Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord has announced he is retiring.
Dubord’s last day will be Aug. 1.
“You always want to leave when your game is good, and you want to do the ‘Gretzky.’ Coming from Edmonton I always have the Oilers in mind,” he said. “You want to leave when the organization is in a good place. The timing was just right.”
Dubord started his policing career in Edmonton, serving for 25 years with the Edmonton Police Service. When he left in 2012, he was the Deputy Chief of Operations with 1,100 patrol officers under his command.
An opportunity presented itself to be Chief of the Transit Police in the Lower Mainland, which appealed to him. He applied for the job and moved out to B.C. in February of 2012.
Dubord previously had a relationship with former Delta Police Chief Jim Cessford from his days in Edmonton, so when Cessford was considering retirement, he suggested that Dubord should consider applying for the job.
That’s just what he did, and in June of 2015, Dubord assumed the role as Chief of the DPD.
“I would do all of this over again if I was 23 years old again because it is a wonderful career,” he said. “Through the three different organizations – Edmonton Police Service, Transit Police and Delta Police, I can say that both the community and the quality of police officers we have in this organization, I have found them to be the absolute best. Professional, respectful, they understand what the communities’ needs are and they understand the ways that the community is engaged with us that have helped us solved issues.”
Dubord said it was back in his early twenties when a neighbour, an Edmonton Police officer by the name of Robbie Robertson helped him navigate down the path of policing.
“So, he took me under his wing and said, ‘I think you should be a police officer,’” Dubord recalled. “At that time, I was working at Sears in the auto centre. He took me to the station and showed me around and started me down that path. When I researched the job, the team environment really caught my eye. The next thing was the sense of service. You do get a special reward to serve people in an appropriate way.”
Dubord said there are a number of initiatives that he is proud of here in Delta.
“The ‘No Call Too Small’ is certainly one of them. We put a small amount into the bank of public confidence every time we do a ‘No Call Too Small,’ so when we make mistakes – and we all make mistakes – the withdrawal doesn’t bankrupt us.
“We are very innovative as a small to medium-sized police agency, so I’m very proud of the fact that we are the first in B.C. to be many things – top employer, the use of body cams, the use of drones – we have great support from council, the police board and great support from the community, so it’s because of all of those factors that we have had these ‘firsts’ and these successes. No one person can do it alone. It has always been a team effort.”
Dubord said Delta council and the Police Board will oversee the succession plan looking both internally and externally for the new chief of police.
“We have a talented organization for succession,” he said. “I suspect a decision to be made in early fall. As for me, I haven’t decided yet on what happens next. I want to take a month or two to relax and then we will see what opportunities present themselves. I am blessed to live in this community. Our organization is well situated and well prepared and whoever the next chief is, they will be able to step in and continue to move forward in an incredibly positive way.”
