MANITOULIN—Come December 31 a familiar face and voice with the publicwill be missed as Manitoulin’s OPP Community Services Officer Constable Allan (Al) Boyd retires after serving almost 35 years of career on Manitoulin.
“There comes a time when it is time to move on to other initiatives,” Constable Boyd told the Recorder in an interview last Friday. Retiring, “is a personal decision that I have struggled with the last couple of years.”
“Between 1999 and 2014, I worked closely with Al as a crisis negotiator,” said Staff Sergeant Kevin Webb, Manitoulin Detachment Commander. “I was posted to the Manitoulin detachment in the spring of 2011. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Al was held in high regard amongst the public and professionals locally and as far reaching as general headquarters.”
“Over the past four years I have relied on Al’s experience and intimate knowledge of the local policing environment to assist me in my role as Detachment Commander,” said Staff Sgt. Webb. “The education component of policing is often underrated, but plays a significant role in crime prevention involving our youth, as well as major crime and everything in between. Al’s commitment to our communities as an educator cannot be understated.”
“On a personal note, I consider Al a friend as well as a consummate professional,” continued Staff Sgt. Webb. “I will truly miss his contribution to our detachment, however, I am confident that his commitment to the communities we serve, will continue into his well-earned retirement.”
Constable Boyd joined the Ontario Provincial Police in March 1981. After three weeks at the OPP Training Academy in Toronto he learned he was going to be posted to the Little Current detachment on Manitoulin.
“I am originally from southern Ontario, and I was a rookie when I started on the Island,” said Constable Boyd. “When I crossed the Swing Bridge the first time I wondered where I had been sent. No shopping mall, theatre, Canadian Tire, I thought ‘how am I going to survive’?”
“But as I found out Manitoulin Island is one of the best kept secrets of the OPP,” said Constable Boyd. “Thirty-five years later my wife Judy and I are still here, having enjoyed the people of the Island and looked forward going to work each day. We raised two sons here and have had a great life on Manitoulin.”
“One of the proudest accomplishments in my career is being the longest serving OPP officer all on Manitoulin Island,” Constable Boyd told the Recorder.
During his 35-year career with the OPP, Constable Boyd has served in many capacities within the OPP. In the mid-1980s he served as a Community Services Officer for the Manitoulin and North Shore area. During that time he brought the V.I.P. (Values, Influence and Peer) program to areas schools, which was a first for the North. He was seconded to the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ontario as an instructor in 1988. He returned to Manitoulin and resumed general law enforcement duties. In the early 1990s Constable Boyd became the First Nations liaison officer with the OPP and sat on the committee that assisted with the U.C.C.M. Anishnaabe Police Service becoming a stand-alone police agency.
He held the position as court officer for the OPP assisting the Crown Attorney’s with criminal and provincial cases in the Manitoulin courts. In 1995 Constable Boyd attended the Crisis Negotiator Course at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa and became part of the OPP’s Crisis/Hostage Negotiation Team.
In 1996 he became the community-policing officer at Manitoulin Secondary School developing crime prevention and safety programs to the students, including an Internet safety program for all Grade 9 students, the first of its kind in Northern Ontario.
Today he teaches other officers in the latest trends on Internet safety working closely with the OPP’s electronic crime unit at general headquarters in Orillia. In 1997, the officer, knowing the needs and concerns of victims, assisted and sat on the committee to bring the Victims Crisis and Referral Service (VCARS) to Manitoulin. He now sits as the vice-chairman on the board of directors of victim services.
In 1998, Constable Boyd returned to his duties of full-time community services officer for Manitoulin, a position he has retained up to his retirement.
In 2012, Constable Boyd was appointed as the Northeast regional crisis negotiator coordinator responsible for 12 negotiators in the region working closely with incident commanders. One of his main hobbies is amateur radio. He was licenced as a ham radio operator in 1986 and presently sits on the national executive of the Radio Amateurs of Canada as Section Manager of Ontario responsible for the development of emergency communications on a provincial government level.
“I could have retired after 30 years but I decided to stay another five years,” said Constable Boyd, explaining, “being the CSO is near and dear to my heart, and I’ve enjoyed my work with the school system, with initiatives like the DARE program, bike and school bus safety and cyber bullying issues. The kids on the Island have been wonderful to work with.”
“And the relationship I’ve had with First Nations and non-First Nation residents, communities, committees and groups on the Island has been terrific,” said Constable Boyd. “I’ve been fortunate to sit on many committees with some of the best people on Manitoulin Island, and I’ve been able to promote my fellow officers for the great work that they all do.”
“I’m leaving with bated breath; I’m going to miss working with my fellow officers, and the community groups, and all the people I have come to known over the past 35 years,” said Constable Boyd. “But this is not goodbye but so long for awhile. I have ambitions to stay active in the community. I have been a grandfather for a year now and hope to spend more time with my family.”
“I would like to thank all the people on Manitoulin Island for all their support over the years,” said Constable Boyd. He and his wife live in Little Current, where they will remain after his retirement. Their oldest son Brian is a civilian dispatcher for the North Bay OPP Provincial Communications Centre and resides in North Bay. Their younger son Shawn has recently graduated from university with a chartered accounting degree and is employed in Kitchener.
“I have one week left, officially I am retiring as of December 31, 2015, but my last day of work is December 18,” said Constable Boyd. He will be replaced by Constable Steve Hart of Manitowaning detachment as the new CSO. Constable Hart, “knows Manitoulin very well as he has served his whole career here on Manitoulin with 28 years of service. He has a lot of experience and already works very well with the community and is very personable,” added Constable Boyd.
