Chief of Police John Syrette

Police Chief John Syrette has been a police officer since 1987 and began his policing career at his home community of Garden River as one of a three member Indian Special Constable office.

Prior to starting his policing career he attended Lake Superior State University and was a serving member of the Canadian Army (Reserves).

He worked in Garden River until January 1990 when he joined the Ontario Provincial Police and was posted to the Thunder Bay detachment. Among his duties, other than general law enforcement he was the #16 District liaison officer responsible for the First Nation communities in the District of Thunder Bay.

From January – March 1993 he was seconded to the Ontario Police College as the First Nations’ Liaison officer providing guidance and mentoring for the thirty First Nations recruits.

He transferred to First Nations Policing Program located at the O.P.P. Headquarters in Orillia in 1994. His duties included training and transport coordinator and later as the human resources coordinator for the First Nations Program communities.

In 1996 he left the O.P.P. and returned to operational policing with the Anishinabek Police Service at his home community of Garden River. He was later promoted and became the Regional Commander of the A.P.S. North Region as the service rapidly grew from four original communities to eighteen individual First Nations.

Prior to being promoted to Police Chief in December 2005 he also held the position of Director of Support Services.

A/Inspector Claude Chum Director of Central Region

Inspector Claude Chum has been in policing for over 18 years, starting his career as a Constable under the First Nations Program with the Ontario Provincial Police in western Ontario in 1989.

He joined Anishinabek Police Service in 1996 as a Constable with the Sagamok Detachment. In 1999 he was promoted to Sergeant and relocated to Heron Bay where he took on the new position as Detachment Commander of the Pic River/Pic Mobert Detachment. In 2001 he was promoted to Detective Staff Sergeant and moved to Headquarters to run the crime unit for the Anishinabek Police Service. In that position he was responsible for major criminal investigations and internal complaints service wide.

Inspector Claude Chum is a member of the Moose Cree First Nation and at a young age of 17 joined the Canadian Armed Forces and spent 5 years in the navy. After leaving the military, he moved home where he witnessed the social problems in his community and how it was affecting our people. He wanted to make a difference and help the First Nations people, not too long after this he entered the program offered by Northern College called the First Nation Constable course. Upon completion of this training he graduated and went onto policing.

Inspector Butch Sayers Director of South Region

Inspector Butch Sayers has been in policing for thirty-one years. He began his career in February 1977 working in his home community of Garden River First Nation as a First Nations Constable. Inspector Sayers has served his community for his entire career.

In 1989 he was promoted to Sergeant. With the inception of the Anishinabek Police Service in April 1994 he became a Staff Sergeant and was responsible for the original four communities. Since May 2004 he has held the rank of Inspector and supervises the Anishinabek Police Services South Region.

Inspector Sayers says policing has been good to him and he has tried to do the best job he could for the citizens of Garden River First Nation and he would tell anyone to give policing a try.

Inspector Rick Saarinen Director of Support Services

Inspector Rick Saarinen has been involved in Policing since Aug 1994 where he started his career as a First Nations Constable for the Fort William First Nation deployed out of the Thunder Bay Ontario Provincial Police Detachment.

During his employment as a First Nations Constable he was involved in General Law Enforcement, Community Service, Criminal Investigations, In Service Training, and Coach Officer. He started his employment with the Anishinabek Police Service on January 1, 1997. In September 1999 Inspector Saarinen was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, responsible for overseeing the general operations of the Fort William and Rocky Bay Detachments. In 2003 he was Seconded to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police where he assisted in the implementation of the Integrated Border Enforcement Team, responsible for Criminal Intelligence and National Security post 911 for the Lake Superior Region from Marathon Ontario to the Manitoba Border..

On April 10, 2006 he was promoted to the rank of Inspector - Director of Support Services. Responsibilities include Human Resources Management, Police equipment procurement, Fleet Management, Quarter Master, Building Lease and Maintenance, CPIC Operations, Integrated Border Enforcement (RCMP), Integrated Support Services Unit (RCMP, OPP), and Emergency Response Unit (Tactical) throughout the 3 Regions spanning the Province of Ontario.

Inspector Grant Michano Director of North Region

Inspector Grant Michano has been involved in policing for 31 years. He is a member of the Ojibways of Pic River First Nation. He bean his career on January 3, 1977 when he accepted a position in Heron Bay (Pic River) as a First Nation Constable.

During his employment as a First Nations Constable he worked through the Ontario Provincial Police Detachment in Marathon. He worked in General Law Enforcement, Community Service, Crime, Marine, Search and Rescue and as a Coach Officer for several First Nation Officers.

On January 1, 1997, he started employment with the Anishinabek Police Service as a Detachment Commander for the Pic River and Pic Mobert Detachment. On November 11, 1999 he was promoted to Staff Sergeant in an administrative capacity.

He presently holds the rank of Inspector and oversees the Anishinabek Police Services North Region.

Leslie Zack-Caraballo, Finance Director

Leslie joined the Service in May 2004 as the Director of Finance. She is a member of the Garden River First Nation. Her main responsibilities are in the area of accounting and finance which ensures that our internal procedures are implemented according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Her past experience includes ten year tenure with the Ontario Human Rights Commission as a Human Rights Officer. This experience provided her with investigative, analytical and mediation skills in the area of social justice. This also included the ability to provide analysis in relation to due diligence relating to an undue hardship or bona fide qualification analysis. It is in this arena where she enhanced her investigative and analytical abilities from both a legal and financial perspective. Following this, she worked in the capacity as a Property Manager for a seven year period with a local Aboriginal non-profit housing in relation to administration, financial and policy development.

Leslie’s extensive experience on a variety of boards and committees has provided her with a keen understanding of the importance of structure and governance – as it relates to transparent accountability. She is currently the Chairperson of an Audit committee with the Province’s first Aboriginal credit union.

She is skilled in relationship to the requirements of feasibility studies and business planning while ensuring that the flow of information for transparent accountability to advisory groups and/or Board of Directors is complete. More importantly, Leslie is keenly aware of the importance that a stable infrastructure plays in the development of a successful organization.

S/Sgt. Rob Welton, Area Firearms Officer

S/Sgt. Rob Welton has been with the Anishinabek Police Service since June of 2005 in the capacity of Area Firearms Officer.

S/Sgt. Welton was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie and began his policing career in 1969 as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He left policing for a short period of time and in 1973 returned to policing as an officer with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service. In 2003 S/Sgt. Welton retired after 30 years with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service. During those 30 years, S/Sgt. Welton worked in a number of areas of policing including General Patrol, Court Services, Investigation Services, Crisis Negotiator and Major Crime Unit. At the time of his retirement he held the rank of Staff Sergeant.

During his career with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, S/Sgt. Welton was involved in a number of high profile cases and was fortunate to have taken a number of training courses. More importantly he was able to pass on to other officers some of his expertise by becoming an instructor in areas, including First Aid, C.P.R. and Ontario Major Case Management.

S/Sgt. Kirk Kinghorn, Domestic Violence Coordinator

Staff Sergeant Kinghorn started his policing career when he joined the Sault Ste Marie Police Service in May 1963 as a cadet.  Over his 33 ½ years with the service he worked in most areas of the Service: General Patrol, Traffic Investigations, Community Services, Criminal Investigations, Planning and Research and Management Services.  He concluded his service as Inspector in charge of Patrol Services when he retired in July of 1994.  During his service with the Sault Ste Marie Police Service, S/Sgt. Kinghorn was seconded to the Ontario Police College as an instructor for 3 years.

After retiring in 1994, he became the executive director of the Sault Ste Marie Drinking and Driving Awareness Committee for 5 years followed by a 3-year period with the Ministry of Attorney General Victim Services Unit.
 
S/Sgt. Kinghorn has been involved in many community based programs such as Neighbourhood Watch, Block Parents, Red Cross, Heart and Stroke Society, St. John Ambulance, OSAID, MADD Canada and Boy Scouts.

In April of 2006, he accepted a contract with the Anishinabek Police Service as the Domestic Violence Coordinator.

Detective S/Sgt. Tony Hanson, Crime Unit

Detective Staff Sergeant Tony Hanson has been policing since September 1992 with the OPP in Nipigion and Thunder Bay. During employment with OPP he worked in various areas such as General Law Enforcement, First Nations Liaison Officer, Highway Patrol, Emergency Response Team and Coach Officer. He was seconded to the APS Fort William Detachment from October 1998 to May 1999.

In August 2002 he joined the Anishinabek Police Service working as a Constable in his home community of Pic River. He transferred to APS Headquarters in June 2003 where he was promoted to Sergeant to work in Professional Standards. He was then reclassified to Staff Sergeant in August 2004. In November 2007 he transferred to his current position in the Crime Unit as a Detective Staff Sergeant.

The Crime Unit oversees and provides direct investigative support to the APS Police Detachments ensuring that major criminal investigations are consistent with the Major Case Management Process, Sex Offence Registry and other duties as assigned.

A/S/Sgt. Jeff Skye, Professional Standards