Having been part of one of the region’s key integrated police units, the Emergency Response Team, Saanich Insp. Scott Green sees opportunities for further co-operation between departments.
Green, who was named the department’s next deputy chief on Wednesday, listed such examples as a single canine unit, a forensics unit, a tech crime unit and centralized 911 dispatch.
“Those options are there. Where you’ve seen major successes is the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team. It’s a huge success story for integration,” said Green, who spent nine years on the tactical team from 1991 to 2000 and is currently the officer in charge of the unit.
Green wants to see Victoria police back in the Regional Crime Unit, which he said has caught some of Greater Victoria’s most active criminals. Victoria police pulled out of the unit in 2009, citing budget pressures.
Green said the decision around a regional police department lies with the province but stressed that Saanich residents want the community-based policing that Saanich has always worked hard to provide.
Green has been with Saanich police since 1988 and has been involved in some of the department’s most high-profile investigations.
In 1997, Green was part of a search team that seized a black nylon Calvin Klein jacket from Kelly Ellard’s home, evidence in the murder of Saanich teenager Reena Virk.
Green was the supervisor at the scene of the 2007 Oak Bay murder-suicide in which Peter Lee killed his wife, Sunny Park, six-year-old son Christian and Park’s parents.
Green, 49, has been the inspector in charge of the detective division since 2012. His father, Blake Green, retired from Victoria police in 1997 as inspector in charge of detectives.
Green is moving up the ranks to replace Bob Downie, who will be the next chief constable, succeeding Mike Chadwick, who is retiring at the end of January.
“We’re pleased. He’s spent his entire career with Saanich and been in senior management since 2005,” said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard. “He’s well respected, obviously, by the Saanich Police Board — his employer — but also amongst, not only Saanich police but throughout the region and the province.”
Green has received the police exemplary service medal from the Governor General and has been the aide-de-camp for two lieutenant-governors.
Both Green and Downie take up their new roles Feb. 1.
— with files from Bill Cleverley
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