Staff Superintendent John Goodman Awarded The 2023 OACP Excellence in Leadership Award

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is the voice of Ontario’s Police Leaders.  

Members of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police serve their communities as senior police leaders in municipal, regional, provincial, national, and First Nations police services across Ontario.

Media Release

Staff Superintendent John Goodman Awarded

The 2023 OACP Excellence in Leadership Award

For Immediate Release: June 13, 2023

(Kingston, ON) – Staff Superintendent John Goodman of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is the recipient of the 2023 Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police’s (OACP) Excellence in Leadership Award for his tremendous contributions to law enforcement, his outstanding service to Waterloo Region, and his exemplary leadership as a police leader.

Staff Supt. John Goodman has been a sworn member of the WRPS for 29 years, and services as a current supervisor of the Neighbourhood Policing and Investigations Unit.

S/Supt. Goodman has demonstrated his tremendous leadership through his participation and facilitation of the WRPS Cops and Youth program and the Citizen's Police Academy. S/Supt. Goodman also sits on the Advisory Committee for Women in Leadership (WIL) and is an Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) Pillar Champion.

As a champion of change within the service and the community, S/Supt. Goodman has received internal and external praise for his work on recruitment strategies and initiatives. He is a member of the Uniform Recruitment Steering Committee for outreach and runs the Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI), which provides local youth an opportunity to develop valuable life and employment skills while enhancing police relationships with the diverse communities it serves. S/Supt. Goodman frequently stays in contact with participants from all of the programs he’s involved in, and is a respected mentor to youth and their families.

S/Supt. Goodman was also involved in the development of the WRPS Crisis Call Diversion program, launched at the end of 2022. This program partners police with mental health professionals who are physically embedded into the WRPS Communication Centre with the goal of diverting appropriate mental health related calls away from a traditional police response. Through his leadership initiatives, police resources are prioritized ensuring people in crisis receive the appropriate care and response as needed.

S/Supt. Goodman currently sits on the board for the KW Multi-Cultural Centre and was the Chair of the CACP Mental Health Finance Committee. In his personal time, he is involved in the community in providing leadership, mentorship, support, collaboration, education, and outreach to numerous organizations, including: the Somali Canadian Association of Waterloo Region, the Afghan Association, the Islamic Centre of Cambridge, the Cambridge Muslim Services, and Nigerians in the Region of Waterloo (NIROW).

S/Supt. Goodman assumed the role of Acting Chief of Police in July 2022 and worked tirelessly to ensure a seamless transition for incoming Chief Mark Crowell in November 2022. As a well-regarded and respected figure in the community, he brought stability to the service during challenging times for policing.

This annual award is made possible by the generous support of

The Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

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Media Contact:

José Luís (Joe) Couto

Director of Government Relations & Communications
C. (416) 919-9798

E. jcouto@oacp.ca

Twitter: @OACPOfficial

Instagram: @OACPOfficial