Davies reflects on becoming Regina’s first woman deputy police chief

Lorilee Davies is OK being a role model.

On Tuesday, the first woman ever appointed as deputy chief of the Regina Police Service joined the Greg Morgan Morning Show to discuss what getting the job means to her.

“I have two daughters. When I told the older one that I had gotten this position, she said, ‘Wow, Mom, do you know what it’s going to be like to be a role model for so many girls?’ ” Davies said.

“At that point, I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. It really is something that young girls in our community can see that they can be successful in a career and make their way to the top of an organization.’

“I’m not going to cry, but I welled up a little bit.”

Since joining the Regina Police Service in 1996, Davies has worked in uniform and investigative divisions. She also has been a member of the public safety and crisis negotiation teams, and has been part of the Regina Police Association.

She was the superintendent of community services before her promotion.

Some of her accomplishments during her career include developing and leading the service’s truth and reconciliation committee, managing large protests and labour disputes, and working as the critical incident commander for emergency calls.

Throughout her career, Davies has worked closely with Chief Evan Bray.

“He was always really good at encouraging me to take advantage of opportunities, including this one,” she said.

Davies’ new position doesn’t mean that Deputy Chief Dean Rae is out of a job. Instead, Davies is now the second deputy chief.

“Deputy Chief Rae has been in his role for a number of years, and honestly, I don’t know how he has done it,” Davies said.

“He has been managing the workload of two people for a long time, so it’ll really be good in terms of dividing up the work and ensuring that we have really good oversight and the management view in order to take on lots of the challenges we have in the community right now.”