University of Guelph-Humber

Thirty years ago, when Mike Bellai first wanted to get into policing, he spoke to an officer who gave him timeless advice: get an education and doors will open.

Mr. Bellai has kept that advice in mind during the three decades since, and now the graduate of the University of Guelph-Humber’s Justice Studies Degree Completion program has been named Chief of the Stratford Police Service. 

“Throughout my career, I’ve been dedicated to lifelong learning,” says Chief Bellai, who started with a college program in the 1980s, took courses through the years, and eventually enrolled at UofGH in 2011. “There comes a point where you have to ask, can I advance further in my career and do I want to? When you get up to the higher ranks in a police service, inspector and above, it’s imperative that you have a degree.”

Chief Bellai began his career in policing back in 1988 in Peel Region, and two years later he and his wife moved to Stratford when a position in their police service opened up. In the 26 years he’s spent with the Stratford Police Service, Chief Bellai has had roles in uniform patrol, the Emergency Response Unit, the Criminal Investigation Division, and a supervisory role in the Drug/Intelligence Unit. He was named Deputy Chief in 2013, and now he’s reached the service’s highest position.

Though managing a busy career and completing his degree required juggling priorities, Chief Bellai says his time at UofGH helped him get ahead.

“The course content was bang on, and topics like organizational behavior, ethics and quantitative research are very important as you move into different roles,” he says. “I still use those today. To say the program was informative is an understatement — it was spot on. This is the education that moves you to next level.”

He says he’s already putting what he’s learnt to use in Stratford.

“Evidence-based policing is important to me. I want to make sure we’re making the best decisions we can for the community, and that means getting out of our silo and looking to academia for the proper research. That’s how we can know whether something is an emerging trend or if something will be a new best practice or not,” Chief Bellai says.

Putting that idea into action has meant that the Stratford Police Service is working with a researcher to analyze the workload of their frontline staff, and it’s also meant building stronger connections with their community partners.

“Police need to move beyond reactively responding to crime calls, and that means working with our social agency partners to provide the best service we can, collaboratively,” he says. “We’ve recently put into place a new mental health protocol, and that’s meant we’re taking better care of a vulnerable sector. Our wait times at hospitals are way down and we’re strengthened our ties with services in the community. We need to think of this as not just about police, not just about mental health, and not just about housing, but that all three of those play a role in something larger.”

Though he’s only been in the position for a few weeks, Chief Bellai is already encouraging other service members to think about bolstering their credentials.

“I believe in the importance of education and leading by example,” he says. When an officer asked him about the UofGH program, Chief Bellai’s response was simple. “I have nothing but good things to say.”

Learn more about Justice Studies at UofGH.