The City of Regina’s Board of Police Commissioners has announced that Farooq Hassan Sheikh will be the city’s new Police Chief, effective December 1.

The news of Sheikh’s appointment comes after a five-month search to find a new Police Chief.

“When I found I got the job, I was over the moon,” he said. “Really excited, looking forward to the opportunity, looking forward to meeting all the staff and looking forward to working in the community,” he said. “I’m excited about everything it brings. I’m excited about all the challenges, but I’m most excited about making a positive difference.”

Sheikh’s career in law enforcement spans 31 years, making him a highly qualified candidate for the position. He brings a wealth of experience from various senior leadership roles in the United Kingdom and has served as the Chief of the Alberta Sheriffs Service since 2021.

“My goal as a chief is to make Regina the safest place and to make the police the best police service,” he said.

“The fundamental role as a police officer is to protect and service, is to reduce crime and disorder, to increase trust and confidence, to bring offenders to justice and to do a job that our family and friends will be proud of,” he said. “I want to put the public at the heart of everything we do. I want to listen, learn, and strive to improve, and I want to be open and honest when we make mistakes, and we will, it’s just accept it and agree to it rather than be in denial. What I want to be able to create is when people call us, when people are at the very worst, that we, as a police service, we’re at our very best.”

Sheikh’s extensive background includes leadership roles in the London Metropolitan Police and West Midlands Police in the United Kingdom and experience in various police services, such as the Calgary and Central Saanich police services.

He said his decision to come to the Queen City was influenced by the job application and search process.

“What really stood out for me, before I started to do research on Regina, I was really impressed with the level of detail the executive hire team did under the leadership of the Mayor and the Police Commission, how they consulted, they engaged, they’ve done staff service, they spoke to both internal and external communities to try and understand what they wanted from the chief coming forward. That really impressed me because that told me a lot about the organization and the leadership. It told me a lot about what they wanted in their new chief.”

While Sheikh doesn’t start until December, he already has a plan for his first 90 days. That starts with meeting with as many people as possible.

“That’s all the leads, all the chiefs, all the leads of the heads of the communities, and internally to meet every one of my staff, and I plan to meet them all because I want to understand what’s working, what’s not, and what we can change,” he said. “I also want to create an inclusive workforce, both internally, and I also want the public and key members of the public to be able to help us support us in coming up with ideas and plans going forward. “

Sheikh’s appointment makes him the 15th individual to hold the position of chief.