Sault Police swears in longstanding member Brent Duguay as new deputy chief

Sault Ste. Marie Police Service held a swearing-in ceremony for newly minted deputy chief Brent Duguay in front of family members and colleagues at Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre Friday. 

A longstanding member of the police service, Duguay was promoted to the role of deputy chief nearly two years after being named inspector of Criminal Investigation Services in 2022. 

He succeeds outgoing deputy chief Robert MacLachlan, who has retired after 47 years of policing, five of them in his role as second in command with Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.     

“Being named deputy chief is truly an honour and responsibility I will not take lightly,” Duguay said during the ceremony. “I’ll continue to push the service forward and pursue progressive ways to enhance community safety for all members of Sault Ste. Marie and Prince Township to make this community a safer place to live.”

Duguay has nearly three decades of experience in policing under his belt — all of them with his hometown police service — in a wide range of roles including staff sergeant, use of force instructor and as a member of both the joint forces and biker enforcement units. 

“This gentleman comes to you with an incredible amount of experience — he’s worked in all commands of the service, which bid him well in his application process to become our deputy,” said Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson before presenting Duguay with his badge during Friday’s ceremony. 

Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board Chair John Bruno said his board is “proud to have a distinguished member to be our second in command of the Sault police.”  

“Your vast experience as a detective of the investigation services branch of our organization is an incredible asset to this community,” Bruno said during the ceremony. “The relationship you’ve made during work on joint forces operations will surely help make this community safer.”

Neil Duguay, who retired as an inspector after 30 years with Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, was also on hand to see his son sworn in as the city’s newest deputy police chief.  

“It’s a big day today — a big day for our family, for the city of Sault Ste. Marie,” he told reporters following the ceremony. “Brent has a good background in policing. He’s been here 30 years, he knows what the problems might be and how to face them.”

“We’re very, very proud of him as a family, and it was a great ceremony here today.”

Duguay began his policing career when he was hired by Sault Police in 1995 and assigned to patrol services as a 23-year-old. Both he and his father agree that the seeds for his decades-long career in policing were sewn at a very early age. 

“I have pictures of myself wearing his police hat as a kid, running around the house,” said Duguay, speaking with reporters after the ceremony. “Policing is the only job I ever truly wanted to do.

"Obviously, now that I’ve had that opportunity, we’re very proud as a family to be able to continue the tradition of policing that my father started, and now, I continue.”