CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Thomas Jarmyn has been appointed as Prince Edward Island’s new police commissioner.
Jarmyn, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran and past chairman of P.E.I.’s Veterans Review and Appeal Board, will begin his work on Oct. 2.
The police commissioner is an independent statutory office with a mission to investigate and resolve public complaints of unprofessional conduct against police (other than RCMP) in a timely, fair, reasonable and impartial manner.
Jarmyn is a lawyer and former naval officer, serving in the regular force until 1992 and the reserve force until 1996. Upon leaving the Navy, he was called to the Nova Scotia Bar and practised law as an associate and partner with Burchell MacDougall in Truro and Wolfville, N.S. until 2003. This practice involved acting as a worker’s advisor in Worker’s Compensation cases, a federal Crown agent in narcotics and income tax prosecutions and commercial litigation. He then moved to Ontario, where he became a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and served as counsel to the federal minister of public safety.
“We were particularly impressed by Mr. Jarmyn’s qualifications, and we were pleased to recommend his appointment with great confidence,” said Charlottetown Police Chief Paul Smith, who was part of the selection panel of police and justice representatives. “His diverse background in adjudicating and decision-making makes him a good fit for P.E.I.’s needs in the role of police commissioner.”
In 2014, Jarmyn returned to Veterans Review and Appeal Board as deputy chair and was the chair of the board from April 2015 to July 2018. He lives in Stratford with his wife.
Jarmyn replaces Gerard Mitchell, who served as police commissioner for nine years after his appointment was extended for a year while the province recruited for the post.
