Chatham-Kent Police Service

Senior Staff

	Chief of Police Dennis Poole (519) 436-6601 Dennis Poole joined the Chatham Police Service in 1980 after spending a year at the College Militaire Royale de St. Jean with the Canadian Armed Forces. In 1985 he moved to Criminal Investigations where he spent most of his career. In 1987 he designed and implemented the Chatham-Kent Crime Stoppers Program and in 1995 he became the officer-in-charge of Criminal Investigations. When the Chatham-Kent Police Service was formed in 1998, he was named the Executive Officer to the Chief of Police, and in 2000 was promoted to the rank of Inspector and headed up the new Professional Standards Branch. In 2001 he was appointed the Deputy Chief of Police and in 2009 he was appointed the Chief of Police. His education includes a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Windsor, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario. He is Certified Municipal Manager Level III, and a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Chief Poole is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, serves as Zone Chair/Treasurer for Zone 6 of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, and is also a member of the OACP’s Community Policing Committee. He is a past member and Past President of the Board of Directors of the Chatham-Kent Children’s Safety Village, member of the Board of the Chatham-Kent Cultural Coalition, member of the Military Institute of Windsor and “Delta Company” of the Essex & Kent Scottish Regiment, and is a Knight of the Hospitaller Order of St. John.
	Deputy Chief of Police Clare Wiersma (519) 436-6617 Clare Wiersma joined the Chatham Police Service in 1980. He moved through ranks and became an Inspector in 1995. During his tenure in that capacity, he has lead all branches within the Police Service and was heavily involved in the planning and implementation of the new Chatham-Kent Police Service after amalgamation in 1998. He was promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief in 2009. His education and training include: Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from University of Windsor Executive Development graduate from the Canadian Police College Police Leadership graduate from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business Human Resources Program from Queen’s University School of Business Serving as a Visiting Fellow in the Police Management Development Program at the Australian Institute of Police Management Clare also serves on the boards for the Canadian Mental Health Association and Gregory Drive Alliance Church.
	Inspector Community Patrol Branch Wess Dore (519) 436-6640 Wess Dore graduated from Glendale High School in Tillsonburg in 1978 and joined the Wallaceburg Police Service in 1979 as a Dispatcher. In 1982 he was hired as a police constable and graduated from the Ontario Police College in the spring of 1983. He worked in a uniform capacity and then in the Criminal Investigations Branch until he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1989. Wess supervised the uniformed officers until 1995 when he was promoted to the rank of Inspector. In 1998, the Wallaceburg Police Service amalgamated with other police services to form the Chatham-Kent Police Service. Since that time, Wess has been in charge of the Administrative Support Branch, and currently, the Community Patrol Branch.
	Inspector Criminal Investigations Branch George Flikweert (519) 436-6606 George Flikweert joined the Chatham Police Service in 1978 after a couple of years with the Chatham District Ambulance Service. A lifelong resident of Chatham, he moved through the ranks after tenures in Community Relations, where he assisted in the production of the Post-Shooting Trauma educational video, and bringing the awareness of sexual abuse to children in the elementary schools. George also spent 2 years seconded to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as a drug enforcement officer. He was promoted to the rank of Inspector in 2002 in charge of the Criminal Investigations Unit. During his tenure in that capacity he has been involved in the implementation of the Child Sexual Abuse Unit which pairs trained investigators with frontline workers with the Children’s Aid Society. He has also been involved in managing homicide investigations and complex sexual assault investigations. His education in policing involves the Incident Commanders Course at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa, and a Certificate in Homicide Investigations in Sudbury, Ontario. George is a member and involved in various aspects with the Grace Christian Reformed Church and Chatham Christian Schools.
	Inspector Administrative Support Branch Tim Mifflin (519) 436-6642
	Inspector Operational Support Branch Ed Reed (519) 436-6645 Ed Reed is in now into his 34th year of policing. He joined the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force in 1976 and began his career walking a beat in Downtown Toronto. Assignments to Traffic, Plain Clothes, and the Major Crime Unit followed. Other duties included time in the Morality Unit and three years of undercover surveillance. In 1990, Ed was assigned to the Police Dog Services and was shortly after promoted to Sergeant-in-Charge where he worked until 1998. Ed was hired as a Senior Constable by the Chatham-Kent Police Service in 1998. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1999, Staff Sergeant in 2001, and Inspector in 2002. Ed played a major role in the formation of the Critical Incident Response Team and also trained two of the first three Police Service Dogs used by Chatham-Kent Police. Ed has attended the Queen’s University Executive Program as well as completed Computer Science and Philosophy courses at Athabasca University. He has attended numerous courses at Canadian Police College, Ontario Police College, RCMP, and several U.S. cities. Ed is a trained Incident Commander has also taught at the basic Tactical Orientation Course.