THE Peel Regional Police Service Board on Friday announced that Halton Deputy Chief of District Operations Nishan (Nish) Duraiappah has been selected as the new Chief of Peel Regional Police. Duraiappah will take on this new role effective October 1.

Duraiappah was born in Sri Lanka.

Duraiappah comes to Peel Region from Halton, where he has acted as Deputy Chief since 2015. He has served in law enforcement for nearly 25 years in a variety of roles, including the Regional Drug and Morality Bureau, the Guns and Gangs Unit, and District Criminal Investigations. He has worked with federal counterparts on the RCMP Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and shown a strong commitment to many of the region’s diverse cultural and faith-based communities in his capacity as Halton Police Diversity and Cultural Relations Coordinator.

“Deputy Chief Duraiappah represents the next generation of leadership for the police service,” said Nando Iannicca, Chair of the Peel Police Service Board. “The community we all serve expects nothing less than the highest degree of duty and integrity – the very qualities we saw in Deputy Chief Duraiappah during the hiring process.”

The Board has spent the past seven months interviewing numerous candidates for the position of Chief. Duraiappah will become only the second police chief in Peel Region to be hired externally.
“It’s truly an honour to serve the over 3,000 members of the Peel Regional Police Service as their chief,” said Duraiappah. “As a team, we look forward to serving this remarkable and diverse community for many years to come.”
The Board also extended its sincere thanks to outgoing interim Chief Chris McCord for his steady leadership during the hiring process. McCord will remain within the service as a Deputy Chief.