Special constable program works wonders for North Bay recruitment, police chief says

North Bay Police Service swore in two new full-time constables who started as special constables on Monday. The chief says the program is key to recruitment.

Monday morning, two recruits were sworn in as full-time North Bay Police Service constables. Both started as special constables.

One of them, Const. Samuel Murphy, said policing runs in the family.

“My mother and my stepfather were both police officers,” Murphy told reporters after the ceremony.

“My mother still has a photo of me. I was probably three years old here at the police station, wearing this very hat on my head.”

Murphy was a special constable for three and a half years. His colleague, Const. Christopher Lowery was a special constable since 2024.

His interest in policing was sparked by a policing program in elementary school.

“I got to know the constable that came to my school and I always looked up to them,” Lowery said.

Both new officers took the oath Monday, receiving their badge and gun.

Since Chief Daryl Longworth has been in charge of the North Bay police, officer recruitment has heavily relied on the special constable program to fill the roster.

“Probably 80 to 90 per cent of our most recent recruits, if they don’t come to us with experience from other police service, we’ve hired them out of our special constable pool,” Longworth said,

“They … hit the ground running.”

Special constable duties include serving court summonses and subpoenas and providing crowd control at crime scenes.

“We’re sending one more special constable off to police college. When she gets back here, we will be at our full complement (of 120),” Longworth said.

Lowery and Murphy said they are eager to start serving and protecting the community.

“This is very big for me and my family is very, very proud,” Muphy said.

Currently, special constables work an average of 27 hours per week.

The North Bay Police Service’s secondary employment agreement also allows special constables to continue working elsewhere while employed with the police service.

To be considered, applicants must meet several requirements and candidates are evaluated over several stages, including panel interviews, personality assessment, fitness assessment, background investigation, driving test, and use-of-force testing.

To learn more about the special constable program, click here.