Our Executive Team

In photo left to right - Deputy Chief Sara Cunningham, Chief Paul Pedersen and Deputy Chief Natalie Hiltz

A Message from Chief Paul Pedersen

As your Chief of Police, I am so honoured and proud to lead this organization within this community. The City of Greater Sudbury has become home to me and my family. Coming from York Regional Police after 35 plus years in the policing profession, I can honestly say that policing in Northern Ontario is very unique. Where we police is where we call home. We live here, our children grow up here and for many of our members this has always been home. That means we are completely invested in the safety, security and wellness of this community.

As a Police Service we are committed to transparency and continued engagement across the diverse communities we serve – we are your police. We aim to build sustainable, diverse and inclusive networks and partnerships with agencies, organizations and community groups to embrace community input through community engagement.

The Our Shared Commitment to Community Safety and Well-being model emphasizes the importance of not only community engagement, but the importance of innovation and collaborative partnerships while ensuring a survivor-focused approach in everything that we do.

Through our current Strategic Direction, we will focus our efforts on Our Members and Our Inclusive Workplace, Public Trust and Accountability, Collaborative Community Safety and Well-being for Greater Sudbury, and Policing with Excellence and Professionalism.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Our Deputy Chief Sara Cunningham

Deputy Chief Sara Cunningham joined the Greater Sudbury Police Service in 1998 and throughout her 25-year career has served in variety of investigative and operational roles. Prior to her appointment to Deputy Chief, she was the Executive Officer to the Chief of Police and Inspector in charge of Strategic Operations overseeing the Professional Standards Bureau/Quality Assurance, Special Investigations Unit Liaison, Risk Management, Corporate Event Logistics, Project Management, Equity/Inclusion and Diversity, Indigenous Liaison, Procedure Writing, Research, Development and Analytics.

In December of 2021 she was promoted to Deputy Chief of Operations which included Patrol Operations, Criminal Investigations, Community Policing, Integrated Operations which is comprised of the Emergency Response unit and Traffic Management as well as the 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Centre.

Currently Deputy Chief Cunningham oversees Administration which includes Human Resources and Professional Development, Finance, Information Technology and Records and Information Management.

Deputy Cunningham is dedicated to community service and enhancing community partnerships by continuing to work collaboratively with key stakeholder groups. In the past, she was a key driver in developing and launching Sudbury’s highly successful Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team. She is passionate about professionalism, teamwork, and relationship building. She is committed to building on GSPS’s strong foundation of being an innovative police leader by embracing technology, leveraging data and analytics and intelligence-based policing while empowering and supporting its members.  She is the co-lead of the GSPS Authentic Inclusion committee.

Deputy Cunningham holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Laurentian University and is a graduate of the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management Police Leadership Program.  She is the recipient of the Governor General Exemplary Service 20-year medal. She is a member of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Ontario Women in Law Enforcement.

Our Deputy Chief Natalie Hiltz

Deputy Chief Natalie Hiltz is in her 29^th year of an exemplary policing career. Prior to being appointed as the Deputy Chief of Operations with the Greater Sudbury Police Service she worked with Peel Regional Police. She has a wide breath of police experience with recent work in Intelligence Services, Duty Inspectors Office and Community Safety and Well-Being.

Deputy Chief Hiltz is a proud community member of Greater Sudbury and member of the GSPS, investing herself into developing authentic relationships and networks for meaningful engagement with our many members and community partners.  

Deputy Chief Hiltz is a MSt. graduate from the University of Cambridge’s Police Executive Program in Applied Criminology and Police Management. Her MSt. thesis entitled, “Distinguishing the Victim Offender Overlap for Violent High Harm Crime: An Opportunity for Police Targeting, Forecasting and Prevention” has been published and accessed over 5,000 times by police professionals around the world. Her police intellectual leadership journey is harm focused and human-centered and her work assists police to better understand and target serious violent crime for more evidenced reduction, and prevention efforts in support of Community Safety and Well-Being.

Over the years, Deputy Chief Hiltz has participated in several impactful committees and causes centered on data, evidence, best practices as well as equity and inclusion in policing in Ontario.  She has been invited to speak and present on various international panels, podcasts, webinars and conferences including the American Society of Evidence Based Policing.

Some of her most accomplished community endeavours include working with the Police Association of Ontario, on Bill 105, the Good Samaritan Act and later Bill 28, the Mandatory Blood Testing Act that passed as law in 2006 to protect Good Samaritans and Emergency Responders Ontario.