Former police chief leaving his job with the province

Ian Davidson, a former chief of Greater Sudbury's police force, has retired from his job as with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

A spokesperson with the ministry confirmed Monday that Davidson was stepping down in February, but said he wouldn't be available for an interview until after the holidays.

Davidson left his job in Sudbury in 2009, to take on his first role with the ministry, Ontario’s Commissioner of Community Safety, with oversight of the Office of the Fire Marshal, Public Safety Division and Emergency Management Ontario. He was appointed deputy minister in September 2010, a month after Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci was named minister by former Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty. As deputy minister, he was also Ontario’s deputy solicitor general.

According to a biography on the ministry's website, Davidson began his career as a police officer in Ottawa in 1978. He became a superintendent with Greater Sudbury Police in 1998, before being named chief in 2002. He was elected president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police in 2008.

Davidson has a bachelor’s degree from Carleton University, where he majored in law. He is a graduate of the Ontario Police College, the Canadian Police College, the FBI National Academy, and the Rotman Police Leadership Program. He is also a certified municipal manager.

The man who replaced Davidson in Sudbury, Frank Elsner, is now chief of the police force in Victoria, B.C. A search is on to find a replacement, which should happen by the spring.