Victoria officially has a new police chief, nearly a year and a half after the force's former leader stepped aside amid a misconduct investigation involving inappropriate Twitter messages.
The Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board says in a release that Del Manak has been permanently appointed chief constable of the Victoria Police Department.
Manak has been acting as head of the force since December 2015, when former chief Frank Elsner stepped aside while investigations were conducted into allegations that he'd sent Twitter messages to the wife of one of his officers.
Elsner was suspended last April and officially quit last month.
Mayor Lisa Helps says Manak has demonstrated "unwavering leadership" and created a strong community presence for the department despite working under "challenging circumstances."
Manak says in a statement that he plans to build on the force's reputation by engaging and collaborating with the community.
ALL ABOUT CHIEF CONSTABLE DEL MANAK
Born and raised in Victoria, Chief Constable Del Manak started his policing career with four years of service with the Vancouver Police Department. He came to VicPD in 1993, where he has spent the last 23 years in a variety of sections and roles.
Chief Manak has an extensive traffic safety background. He spent five years in the VicPD Traffic section, where he was a collision analyst and part of the escort and drill team.
Selected to set up a provincial government pilot project, Acting Chief Manak helped create the Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU) in the Capital Regional District. The success of this pilot program led to the expansion of other IRSU units throughout the province.
Promoted to the rank of Inspector in 2006, Chief Manak served as the Officer In Charge of Human Resources for over 3 years. He has personally hired more than 60 officers, or nearly one quarter of VicPD’s current members. He then oversaw the Patrol Division until he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in June 2010.
Chief Manak is a graduate of the Dalhousie University Police Leadership Program and the FBI's National Academy Program.
Remaining active in the community remains important to Chief Manak. He is involved in coaching baseball, hockey and soccer and has proudly coached over 30 teams through the years.
