William Blair, Toronto's Chief of Police
Born and raised in Toronto, William Blair has had close ties to the city's police department his whole life. Members of his family have been with the organization since the early 1900s. Blair joined the department, himself, in 1974 as a patrol officer in the downtown core.
Toronto's police service has a reputation for promoting from within and Blair worked his way up through the ranks while attending the University of Toronto and earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Criminology. He holds several other designations related to policing from universities and agencies across North America.
In April 2005 Blair was named Chief of the Toronto Police Service - the fifth largest in North America, with nearly 8000 uniformed officers and civilian staff. It is reported he leap-frogged over the widely accepted first choice for the job with an exceptional performance during his interview with the police services board - appealing to the progressive members while not alienating the conservative element.
Along with his duties as Chief of the Toronto Police Blair is actively involved with a variety of domestic and international police organizations including: the Ontario, Canadian and International Associations of Chiefs of Police. He is also on the executive of the Children's Aid Society of Toronto along with other community organizations.
Report on Business sat down with Police Chief William Blair to talk about running the department. We wanted to know how the leadership skills required to run such a huge, public operation could be applied to business.