Mike Boyd
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Mike Boyd is a Canadian police officer, who was sworn in as Toronto's interim Chief of Police from March 1, 2005. to April 6, 2005. His appointment followed the controversial tenure of Julian Fantino, whose term as police chief was marked by both a tough approach to crime and widespread allegations of police corruption.
Boyd was subsequently appointed chief of the Edmonton Police Service on January 18, 2006.
A 30-year veteran of the Toronto police force, Boyd was appointed deputy chief in 1994. He was considered a leading candidate for the chief's job in 1999, when it was offered to Fantino despite the fact that Fantino hadn't officially even applied for the job. Boyd subsequently retired from the police force in 2003, and worked with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse until his appointment as interim police chief was announced in early 2005. His appointment followed the police services board's controversial 2004 announcement that it would not renew Fantino's contract at the end of his term, a decision which outraged many of Toronto's more conservative city councillors.
In his early media interviews, Boyd stated that he hoped to bring a more collaborative and community-oriented style of leadership to the job than Fantino did, particularly around controversial issues such as racial profiling.
Boyd was initially considered a front-runner for position of police chief after some praise from the board during his short time. On April 6, another former deputy chief, Bill Blair, was named Fantino's permanent successor. Insiders expected that the vote was 4-2 in favour of Blair. In contrast to Fantino, there was little difference between Boyd and Blair, although it was widely believed that mayor David Miller personally preferred Boyd. Case Ootes and Hugh Locke, the two conservative members of the police services board, voted against Boyd for that reason.
