WANTED: Experienced cops in Mississauga, Brampton as Peel police face recruiting challenge [Video]

Faced with “ongoing recruitment challenges,” Peel Regional Police are actively looking to other police forces for experienced officers to join their ranks.

The hiring strategy “marks a significant shift” for Ontario’s second-largest police force (third-largest in Canada), Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said, and comes in response to fewer Ontario Police College graduates being available to beef up Peel’s complement of front-line officers each year.

Speaking at the last Peel Police Services Board meeting, both Duraiappah and Peel Deputy Chief Mark Dapat brought members up to speed on the latest on the recruitment front.

Dapat said the force has launched a formal campaign “to recruit experienced officers from other services, aiming to address ongoing recruitment challenges.”

He told board members 14 experienced officers from other forces had been hired as of the end of August.

Dapat noted that while recruiting experienced officers from other police agencies “isn’t ideal, it is …