Over 100 people were in attendance for the ceremony including Mayor Jeff Leal, Councillor Gary Baldwin, Councillor Keith Riel and officers from around the province for the ceremony among others.
Betts was the Deputy Chief of Operations and Deputy Chief of Administration for the London Police Service prior to joining Peterborough. He brings 26 years of policing into his new role.
“You can expect me to be open, accessible and very present,” said Betts. “I intend to be very public in this community, I see that the role of Chief of Police is more than just Chief of Police, it's about being a leader in the community and that's a role I intend to take very seriously.”
Betts has been familiar with the city as his wife is from Peterborough and he met her here. His first concern is to continue familiarizing himself with the community.
“My first and foremost priority is to really get embedded in the police service, to learn the people, what makes a police service and the people who work here,” said Betts. “My number one priority is to get to know the people who work here so that I know how they're serving the community and then to see what we can do to continue that service and where we can and can't service.”
During Betts’s career, he has served as Frontline Patrol to Executive Services as well as Support Services and Administrative departments.
Betts has completed the Senior Management Institute for Police with the Police Executive Research Forum at the University of Boston and the Police Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Executive Management at the University of Toronto. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from York University, a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the University of Fredericton and is pursuing a second Masters degree in Law in Alternative Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School.
The newly-appointed police chief is also a certified Canadian Risk Manager and certified Change Management Practitioner. He has served as the co-chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Information and Statistics Committee.
