Our Executive Team

Chief Sara Cunningham

Chief Sara Cunningham joined the Greater Sudbury Police Service in 1998 and throughout her 26-year career has served in variety of investigative and operational roles. Prior to her appointment to Deputy Chief in 2021, 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.

In 2023, she became the Deputy Chief of Administration overseeing Human Resources and Professional Development, Finance, Communications and Information Technology and Records and Information Management. This included ensuring inclusive and diverse recruitment strategies, the preparation for the integration of Next Generation 9-1-1, and fiscal prudence through transitioning the Service to a two-year budget cycle.  

Chief 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.

Chief Cunningham remains committed to Community Safety and Well-bring and will continue to foster community partnership with a focus on data-driven and intelligence-led community policing practices. Cunningham believes in strengthening community partnerships to support individuals suffering from homelessness, mental health and addictions while addressing community safety, security and wellness.

Chief 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 and the Order of Merit of Police Services. 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.

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.