Statement from the Peel Police Services Board on The Appointment of Chief Nishan Duraiappah to the Order of Ontario

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Peel Police Services Board would like to congratulate Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah on his appointment to the Order of Ontario. The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, will bestow the honour to Chief Duraiappah at a ceremony to be held on November 21, 2022.

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.

In 2019 Chief Duraiappah was hired by the Peel Police Services Board to usher in a new era of policing in Peel and across Canada.    

Chief Duraiappah's upbringing in Canada after his parents immigrated from Sri Lanka, combined with his 34 years of experience as a police officer and leader on a local, regional, and national level, 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.

With only three years on the job as Peel Police Chief, he has implemented sweeping changes that are reimagining policing in this country, 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.

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 Canada's most senior South Asian police officer, as well as the current 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.

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Media Contacts:

Rob Serpe
Executive Director
Peel Police Services Board
905-458-1340
robert.serpe@peelpoliceboard.ca