Wikipedia

Peter Lambrinakos

Peter Lambrinakos OOM (Greek: Παναγιώτης Λαμπρινάκος) is a Canadian police officer and corporate security executive, currently serving as the first Chief of Police of the VIA Rail Canada Police Service and additionally as VIA Rail Canada’s Chief of Corporate Security since March 2015.[1][2] He has held various senior positions leading the Organized Crime, Major Crime, Economic Crime and Intelligence units with the Montreal Police Service.[3]

Peter Lambrinakos
OOM
Παναγιώτης Λαμπρινάκος
Chief of Police of Via Rail Police Service
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 16, 2015
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born
Panagiotis Lambrinakos

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityCanadian, Greek
ResidenceOttawa
Alma materMcGill University
OccupationChief of Police and Corporate Security

Early life and education

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Lambrinakos was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Greek parents. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Major in Economics from McGill University.[3]

VIA Rail Canada Police Service

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Lambrinakos created VIA Rail's Corporate Security Strategy to protect VIA Rail's passengers, employees and infrastructure.

Creation of the VIA Rail Police

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Lambrinakos also formed the VIA Rail Canada Police Service, Canada's first passenger railway police dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of inter-city rail in Canada.[4][5][6][7][8]

Montreal Police Service

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Lambrinakos began his policing career in 1989 with the Montreal Police Service moving up the ranks to head teams dedicated to the fight against child sexual exploitation for commercial purposes,[9] leading child kidnapping investigations,[10][11] and overseeing investigations involving violent street gangs.[12][13][14]

Creation of the Montreal Police Metro Unit

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In 2007, Lambrinakos became the first Chief of the Montreal Police Metro Unit. He played a vital role in creating this new transit police unit responsible for the public safety in the Montreal Metro (subway), Canada's second-busiest rapid transit system and North America's fourth busiest rapid transit system.[15][16][17][18]

Capture of Luka Magnotta

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In 2012, Lambrinakos became Chief of the Major and Economic Crimes Division in charge of the Homicide, Cold Case, Sexual Assault, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Robbery, Arson and Fraud units. He also was in charge of the Crisis Negotiations and Hostage Rescue and Barricaded Persons Structure.[3] During this time,[19] Lambrinakos was the commanding officer regarding the investigation of the murder of Jun Lin, a Chinese international student murdered by Luka Rocco Magnotta. Magnotta fled from Montreal to Paris after posting a video recording of the murder online and mailing the body parts to schools and Canadian federal Conservative and Liberal political parties.

On May 31, 2012, INTERPOL issued a Red Notice for Magnotta at the Montreal Police Service Homicide unit's request to locate and provisionally arrest him pending extradition.[20] The investigation then turned into an international hunt by law enforcement authorities in Canada, the United States, France, Germany and other countries. Magnotta was arrested at an Internet café in Berlin while reading news about himself.[21] As a matter of "national interest," a sensitive military mission was ordered by the Canadian national defence minister following the request by Lambrinakos to assist Montreal Police in repatriating Magnotta back to Canada. A team of homicide detectives transported Magnotta back on a Royal Canadian Air Force Airbus CC-150 Polaris jet aircraft.[22][23] This investigation was chosen as Canada's Newsmaker of the Year by The Canadian Press in 2012.[24] In December 2019, Netflix released a documentary series based on these events called Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.[25]

Governor in Council appointment

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Lambrinakos was appointed by Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of National Defence, as a Commission Member of the Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada from 2023 to 2026. The Commission is a civilian, quasi-judicial oversight agency that operates at arm's length from the Government of Canada.[26][27]

Other activities

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Lambrinakos currently serves as a Director on the Board of Directors for two organizations: Operation Lifesaver Canada[28] and St. John Ambulance, Quebec Council.

He also represents North America as a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC) Security Platform, which comprises 194 railway companies or entity members.[29] The platform aims to keep individuals, data, goods, and infrastructure safe from various threats. Additionally, Lambrinakos holds the position of Chair for the UIC Security Platform Human Factors Working Group.[30]

Furthermore, Lambrinakos was a police consultant to the Canadian drama film Boost, released in 2017.[31] In 2018 the film was nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards and eight Iris Awards at the 20th Quebec Cinema Awards.[32]

Honours

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In 2015, Lambrinakos was invested as a Member of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (MOM).[33] In 2021 he was promoted within the Order to Officer (OOM) by the Governor General of Canada.

Ribbon Description Notes
 
 Order of Merit of the Police Forces (OOM) – Officer: 28 January 2021

– Member: 8 January 2015[33]

 
 Police Exemplary Service Medal – 1st Bar: 28 August 2019

– Medal: 28 August 2014

References

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  1. ^ De Souza, Mike; Robinson, Megan (2020-03-09). "Security logs show rise in anger and violence on Via Rail's Western Canadian trains". Global News. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  2. ^ Bauer, Jennifer; Molpeceres, Paul, eds. (2020). "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). VIA Rail Canada. pp. 18, 19. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  3. ^ a b c "2018 Readiness and Resilience in the Age of Disruption Conference Speaker Biographies" (PDF). University of Ottawa. 2018-02-27. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  4. ^ Marchand Giguere, Karl-Philip (2020-03-03). "Protecting Canada's intercity passenger rail service". Blue Line. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  5. ^ "Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Amtrak Police Department. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  6. ^ "A ride through our history". VIA Rail Canada. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  7. ^ "Sustainable Mobility Report 2018 Transforming for the Future" (PDF). VIA Rail Canada. 2019. pp. 12, 29, 34, 35. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  8. ^ Bauer, Jennifer; Molpeceres, Paul, eds. (2019). "Annual Report 2018" (PDF). VIA Rail Canada. pp. 1, 32, 33. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  9. ^ "Keeping Children Safe from Online Sexual Exploitation". SPVM. 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  10. ^ "Kidnapping claims unfounded". CTV News. 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  11. ^ "Fake abduction reports need balanced response: expert". CBC News. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  12. ^ Handfield, Catherine (2009-08-25). "Gang de rue démantelé". La Presse (in French). Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  13. ^ "Police arrest 18 with Project Ondée". Montreal Gazette. 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  14. ^ "Le Module gangs de rue de la région Ouest du SPVM met un terme aux activités d'un gang de rue". SPVM (in French). 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  15. ^ "Montreal to crack down on gangs in subway system". CTV News. 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  16. ^ Barbeau, Danielle; Bourque, Marie, eds. (2007-10-31). "L'heure juste Vol. 14, no 6" (PDF). SPVM (in French). p. 5. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  17. ^ "Métro de Montréal Police Station 50 (Subway)". SPVM. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  18. ^ "Montréal's Métro (subway) officer". SPVM. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  19. ^ "Compte rendu - SPVM Comité de gestion du Service des enquêtes specialisées" (PDF). Commission d’enquête sur la protection de la confidentialité des sources journalistiques (in French). 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  20. ^ "INTERPOL commends international police cooperation resulting in swift arrest of suspected Canadian killer". INTERPOL. 2012.
  21. ^ Borgfeld, Bettina (2012-06-04). "Suspect in grisly Canadian murder arrested in Berlin". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  22. ^ "Ottawa spent $376K to repatriate Luka Magnotta: documents". CTV News. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2020-12-28. national interest
  23. ^ "Photo of Luka Magnotta arriving at Montreal's Mirabel Airport exiting from RCAF Airbus CC-150 Polaris in the custody of Montreal police officers. Then Inspector Peter Lambrinakos is seen behind and to the left and then Commander Denis Mainville behind and to the right of Magnotta". The Globe and Mail. Montreal Police Service/Associated Press. 2012-06-20. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  24. ^ "'Canadian psycho' Luka Magnotta named Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year". National Post. 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  25. ^ "Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer". Netflix. 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  26. ^ "Organization Profile - Military Police Complaints Commission".
  27. ^ "MPCC Member Biographies". 21 June 2005.
  28. ^ "OL Team". Operation Lifesaver Canada. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  29. ^ "RAILWAY SECURITY: A CORE VALUE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS". 11 October 2023.
  30. ^ "UIC Security Platform meetings held in Paris".
  31. ^ "Boost (2016) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  32. ^ "Boost (2016)". Bunbury Films. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  33. ^ a b "Order of Merit of the Police Forces". The Governor General of Canada. 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
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