With more than 30 years of experience with the Ottawa Police Service, Allan Burns will be bringing more than a fresh face to the Carleton community as he gets settled into his new position as director of the department of university safety.

Sept. 1 was the first day on the job for Burns, who replaced former director Len Boudreault.
Burns, 57, said he spent 34 years working various positions with the Ottawa police and climbed his way up the ladder.

“Like any policing job, you start off as a patrol officer. I spent a few years working back in those days as a beat officer, walking a beat to start with, and then moved on to a patrol officer,” Burns said. 

From security manager of the Ottawa Police Services to the head of the 911 Bureau Communications Centre and Call Centre, Burns has acquired a large range of policing and management skills during his time with the force.

Before taking the position at Carleton, Burns was district inspector in the Ottawa police’s East Division where he said he was in charge of community policing in Ottawa’s southern and eastern areas.

“The position was very appealing to me,” Burns said.

“When I looked at the requirements for the position, the skill sets that I acquired over the years in policing certainly matched that very well,” he said.

When first looking into the position, Burns said he made sure to talk to some of the police officers who worked closely with Carleton to get a feel for the community and the department he would be taking charge of.

“I was walking into a department that I had heard had been well run by [Boudreault], had progressed quite significantly over the years and had an excellent reputation. Now that I’m here, I am seeing that that is the case,” Burns said.  

At the time of his retirement, when asked if he missed his old job, Boudreault said, “It’s been 18 years.”

“It was wonderful while I was there and, like Carleton, I did the things I wanted to do and now it’s time to move on,” Boudreault had said.

“The short-term goal is to learn how things work here so I can fit in,” Burns replied when asked if he had any plans for the department.

“Once we get that under my belt, we can start looking at what needs to be done beyond that.”