Al Hutchinson - Oversight Commissioner

A graduate of Carleton University, Ottawa and Queen's University, Belfast (MBA), Al served nearly 34 years in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), rising through the ranks to Assistant Commissioner.

Following recruit training in Regina Saskatchewan and Alberta, he had postings in the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Ottawa (HQ), New Brunswick, Toronto and London, Ontario. Duties and experience included general duty policing, economic crime, drug enforcement, VIP protection, public order, human resources, organisational change management, and progressive management/executive positions. Al's final posting was as Commanding Officer of "O" Division (Ontario), responsible for the RCMP Operations in Canada's largest province.

Al Hutchinson was Chief of Staff for the Office of the Oversight Commissioner from it's inception in 2001. He was appointed to the position of Oversight Commissioner subsequent to the retirement of Tom Constantine. As he commenced the new role in January 2004 Al Hutchinson said, "Patten recommended a five-year term for the Oversight Commissioner, and I am honoured to be leading the oversight team into this stage of the work, which will end in May 2007. A tremendous degree of progress has already been made by policing institutions over the last three and a half years, reflecting the commitment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Policing Board to providing world class policing to all the citizens of Northern Ireland. This is a very short amount of time in the context of change management in any organisation, and particularly in policing. I am confident however, that organisations and individuals committed to the full implementation of Patten will continue to make further solid and fundamental steps towards achieving this goal".