Windsor's police chief apologizes for issues surrounding 911 call

Windsor's chief of police, Al Frederick, has addressed the 911 call that was revealed through a CBC News investigation.

Frederick apologized for the position he put his officers in, on Nov. 12, when they responded to a call made from his home.

"Once the police arrived there was an inherent conflict of interest," said Frederick. "I apologize to those officers for putting them into that position where they had to deal with their chief of police."

Frederick said he and his family member are "working on" the underlying issue that prompted the call.

"The call to my house was a deeply personal matter," said Frederick. 

Windsor police chief says officers acted with professionalism

6 years ago

Duration 0:41

Al Frederick says the police board may or may not look for revisions to existing policies.

According to Frederick, he has been out of the province for the last few weeks. 

"There's been some criticisms of the board regarding the nine-day delay before they asked the OPP to come in," said Frederick, adding that the police officers were following the law that day by responding to the call, regardless of the conflict of interest. "I think that's critical from this perspective."

"For the most part, the officers performed on that day with the professionalism I would expect," said Frederick.

The chief would not elaborate on the nature of the call beyond it a being a personal family matter he described as a "one-off" situation. 

He said the Windsor Police Services Board was contacted immediately. As previously reported, the Board asked the OPP to review the investigation on Nov. 21.

"The review by OPP did not make findings, it simply substantiated what had already happened, the lawful, correct course of action," said Frederick.

Frederick would also not comment on who in the home called 911 or if it was a hang-up call. 

According to Frederick, the WPS board may or may not seek a revision to the policies that exist.

"If they do go down that road, changing the policy, being specific about a call for service involving the chief of police then that will be unique in the province. I don't think anyone has a policy like that."