Victoria Police Chief Del Manak has had his contract extended by eight months and will now serve until Aug. 31, 2025.
He was originally scheduled to retire at the end of this year.
A nationwide process to select a new chief is underway and is being led by an executive-search firm, said Micayla Hayes, the new Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board chair, who was recently elected by fellow board members.
Hayes said that choosing a new chief is one the most important decisions a police board can make.
“This is a complicated task and we will taking the time to ensure that we make the best selection possible,” said Hayes, who has replaced former board co-chairs Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins.
The election of Hayes, a business owner with a background in criminology, marks the first time the board has had someone other than mayor serving as chair, and has been made possible by changes to the Police Act.
Former NDP cabinet minister Elizabeth Cull was elected vice-chair, while Desjardins and Alto will remain as board members.
Hayes, who has served on the board for three years and was vice-chair for the past 10 months, said there is a possibility the new chief could come from within.
“The board has full confidence in the deputy constables at the Victoria Police Department and in all of our senior staff,” she said.
Manak was hired as chief on July 1, 2017 and will have been in the department’s top job for nine years and eight months by the time he steps down — including a term as interim chief that began in January 2016.
He said the department continues to deal with challenges such as community safety as he enters his last year as chief.
Manak said it is important for the department “to be able to work with the city and to address some of the chronic issues that we are seeing in our streets.”
Hayes said that moving to a community member as chair of the police board is a positive step and will mean looking at changes to the way the board is governed.
“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to serve in this role and to connect with the community.”
Desjardins said she supports the move to Hayes as chair of the police board.
“This is a great change and I think Mayor Alto would agree with me that what it does is it allows the police board to have somebody there when they’re needed to work on behalf of the board, and not just have it as another portfolio on the side of our desks.”
She said that having “two hats” as both a mayor and police board co-chair can be difficult.
“As a mayor you’re speaking on behalf of your community,” she said. “As a police board chair you are speaking on behalf of the police board and the organization.”
Alto said the change from mayors leading the board “is the beginning of the evolution of police service in Victoria and Esquimalt.”
