CPS Member Spotlight On Inspector Jeff Sheils
written by JaimeKristal Lott
Life has a way of leading you to where you are meant to be when you are unsure of where you want to go. Jeff Sheils grew up in Thunder Bay and had no idea what the future had in store for him. Upon graduating high school, he did not know what he wanted for a career. He debated going into nursing like his mother or perhaps becoming an air traffic controller, but instead decided to take a gap year to try to figure things out.
During that time, he attended the Banff School of Fine Arts for a summer program working with professional actors and then had the opportunity to perform in numerous stage productions. Sheils played everything from a lion tamer in children’s plays, a courtier in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and even the Tin Man for a Wizard of Oz Dinner Theatre production. Eventually, Jeff Sheils realized being a professional actor was not for him.
He did want to return to school however, so Sheils decided to take the two-year Law and Security program at Confederation College with a couple of his friends. Jeff Sheils found the program, taught by retired cops, to be rather interesting and through it acquired a seasonal job as Park Warden with Ontario Parks. Even after graduating, Sheils stayed on for another three summers while finding other jobs during the colder months —such as security at a paper mill.
While a Park Warden, Sheils often interacted with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in a nearby detachment office. He even occasionally got to go on patrol with them. There was no particular moment that sparked the idea but, thanks to these interactions and his college program, Jeff Sheils was inspired to go into policing.
He took the leap, applying to several places, and was accepted into the Thunder Bay Police Service as a constable. “If you get hired on at a police service, you’ve kind of won the lottery. It’s fun, it’s exciting, sometimes it’s scary. It gives you an opportunity to serve your community; a chance to care for, mentor, or protect those in need. You get a good salary and good benefits, but you have to deal with not being available for family functions so there are trade-offs.”
While he enjoyed the duties of being a police officer, in time Jeff Sheils desired a new challenge: he wanted to try his hand at teaching. This calling was not one he considered previously, despite his father being a geography teacher, but soon realized he loved it. When a spot opened up at the Ontario Police College (OPC), Sheils sent an application there and was soon seconded for the position.
For two years Jeff Sheils taught at the academy in Aylmer, first teaching Defensive Tactics and later Officer Safety. “DT was fun because everybody thought they were ninjas; teaching them how to punch and kick and wrestle a bit so they can better protect themselves. Officer Safety was later on in the training and they were just about as excited for that because now they were starting to put everything they learned together.” Sheils is quite proud of his time at OPC as he was able to send 2,500 police offers into their new careers.
When it was time for Jeff Sheils to go back on the road as an officer, the question arose of where. Sheils is a Thunder Bay native and loved living there, making it the obvious choice to return, yet he and his wife had extended family in southern Ontario. Lynne was born and raised in Toronto while Jeff spent a lot of summers growing up at the family cottage on Rice Lake. Due to this, they also looked around for an opening in the vicinity and found one at Cobourg Police Service (CPS).
Sheils was still a constable at the time but, because of his previous experience in Thunder Bay as an acting sergeant, he was occasionally called upon for that duty again in Cobourg. A couple of years later, he was made sergeant, in charge of his own platoon. During this time, Jeff Sheils made himself indispensable as the guy to go to when technology required fixing —be it a computer or other devices. Tech toys were intriguing to him and everyone knew he was always willing to help.
It came as no surprise when Sheils was offered yet another promotion. This gadget-loving inspector’s job is nothing like that of Inspector Gadget on television. Instead, an inspector at CPS manages software and digital evidence, oversees training and discipline, plus reviews the station’s needs and figures out how to make it happen. Inspector Sheils also interacts with other police services across Ontario and is on various committees to help make directional decisions from a policing perspective.
Over the years Jeff Sheils has proven his ability to take on these additional responsibilities and make those important decisions. Because of this, Sheils was often asked to fill in whenever needed, stepping in as acting Chief when the Chief was on holidays.
As of June 3 2021, Jeff Sheils had been in policing for thirty years and, on that day, he announced his retirement. The first thing he plans to do is take his new toy —a travel trailer— to visit his family in Thunder Bay. He and his wife look forward to camping trips and simply relaxing in their backyard. Sheils has made no other plans on how to occupy his new leisure time, but rumour has it his wife might talk him into doing some community theatre.
“I am so proud of him,” Lynne says. “Policing is not a job for everybody, but it’s people like Jeff who commit their time and careers and life to helping others that you can never thank them enough for what they’ve done.”
His three children, now grown, are just as proud of their dad. Growing up they loved making other kids jealous, bragging about their police officer father and getting dropped off at school in a cruiser. That pride in him never dissipated and, after years of focusing on policing, they think Inspector Sheils has earned some relaxation.
“The coolest thing about having a police officer as a dad is just having a dad,” says his son Kevin. “With retirement, he can focus more on the just being a dad part and having some fun.” His other son, Andrew, could not help adding, “At least I don’t have to worry about getting pulled over by him now!”
Sarah, the youngest, wanted to give her dad a particular message. “Growing up, I was always very proud to show him off to my friends… He was always the voice in the back of my mind, telling me to make smart choices, and I can’t thank him enough. I love you lots Dad, and hope you enjoy retired life to the fullest.”
Thirty years is a long time to be in a single career, particularly one that takes a lot of dedication and sacrifices. From Thunder Bay to Aylmer to Cobourg, there have been many ups and down for Jeff Sheils as an officer. He has made such a difference in those communities and in so many lives. From providing life-saving CPR to being injured in a car accident when responding to a call, policing really is something you do for life and we can never thank him enough for it.
“I’ve spent my whole career helping other people, taking care of their problems where I can, and saved a couple of lives. It’s been about serving others. I’m not leaving because I don’t like my job anymore, I just want to make an opportunity to devote myself to my family and friends. This is an opportunity to get me, my wife, my kids at the forefront. I’m ready to get a little bit ‘normal’ for a while.”