Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 108
108
( 2026)
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Peel Regional Police pioneers a progressive approach
A
fter she graduated
from Wilfrid Laurier
University with a
bachelor’s degree
in criminology in
2022, Jaeda Brefo was intent on
going to law school and becoming
a criminal lawyer. But because she
wanted to understand crime, she
thought she’d get some policing
experience first by becoming a
cadet at Peel Regional Police.
Then everything changed.
A Peel Regional Police officer is not born.
They’re made. Every single one of them has the
highest level of training
that we would give to a
front-line officer.
— Mark Dapat
Deputy Chief
Peel Police, Canada’s third-largest service covering Brampton,
Mississauga and Toronto Pearson
International Airport, made sense
to Brefo because she’d grown up
in Brampton. But she was also
aware — as someone of Ghanaian
and Jamaican heritage — that Peel
was making waves across North
America with its groundbreaking
and progressive approach to
community safety and inclusion,
one that attracts many diverse
applicants. Now that she’s become
a full-time sworn constable, Brefo
is hooked on policing, Peel-style,
and has put away her law books.
“Policing has been able to touch
on all the parts that I’ve always
Officers at Peel Regional Police are encouraged to develop meaningful, varied careers throughout their time
with the organization.
wanted to do, like work with the
courts,” she says. “And I always
wanted to be a proactive person
in the jobs I take on while serving
others. I find that policing is the
perfect mix of that, because I can
be proactive with the person on
the scene, right there and then,
and really connect with people.
I realized I do want to be more
hands on.”
Her cultural background is a
big help, she finds. “I’ve been able
to de-escalate a lot of situations,
because I am able to understand
people a little bit better. Peel is
such a diverse community and
having officers that reflect that is
very important.”
That is a big part of the Peel
Police approach under reforms
brought in by Chief Nishan
Duraiappah when he took over
in 2019, notes Deputy Chief
Mark Dapat. “We think that the
direction that we’re going in modernizes the way policing services
should be delivered to community,
with a focus on being innovative
and also really investing in our
people. This is what sets us apart
from other police organizations,”
he says.
Peel Police has close connections
with a broad variety of community
partners, such as mental health
and social service agencies, and
often attends emergency calls
with them. It has also voluntarily
signed a first-of-its-kind binding
memorandum of understanding
with the Ontario Human
Rights Commission.
“It really speaks to the way that
policing was done in the past and
how there were significant harms
to the community because our
approaches didn’t really focus on
being victim-centric, being trauma-informed, being fully human
rights focused,” says Dapat.
