Fady Dagher (EMBA 2012) is appointed as the chief of police for the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service

At the beginning of December 2016, Fady Dagher, a McGill-HEC Montréal 2012 EMBA graduate , was appointed as the chief of police for the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service. He will take office on February 6th.

Since his graduation, Fady has been  a guest speaker in the EMBA McGill-HEC Montréal and has impressed  classes with his knowledge,  his impressive track record, and his humility. Fady has 24 years of police experience.  He developed the first policy on racial and social profiling in Canada, and he was one of the architects of the Center for the Prevention of Radicalization leading to Violence. Until his recent nomination, he held the position of Assistant Director for City of Montréal Police Service (SPVM).

In a Globe and Mail article, published in 2013, his atypical journey as an EMBA graduate is highlighted:

In 1990, recently arrived in Canada, 22-year-old Fady Dagher was studying at night at university to become an accountant while working as manager of an optical store in downtown Montreal.

When a uniformed policeman walked in, Mr. Dagher asked him about his career. Sensing the young man’s interest, the officer took him on the road to explain the job. “Right away I fell in love

[with becoming a policeman],” says Mr. Dagher, born and raised in Ivory Coast but of Lebanese descent. “I left the university and decided to go to the academy for policing.”

He joined the force on February 3, 1992. First a beat officer, he quickly moved into undercover and organized crime work, in part because he speaks English, French and Arabic. By 2005, he was promoted to area commander of a tough east-end neighbourhood.

In 2010, he applied for the executive MBA, with financial backing from his employer. Mr. Dagher was the only police officer in the bilingual program, offered Thursdays and Fridays and weekends for mid-career executives.

Given the top-down structure of policing, Mr. Dagher says, “I was curious to see if there was another way to manage and deal with some issues and challenges.” Through the program, he says he learned patience and ways to negotiate informally within the organization. “I take the time to ask, ‘Is there a different way we can do things?’” he says. “The reflex is automatic now.”

Both during and after his time in the EMBA program, Fady received a number of  promotions at the Montreal Police Service prior to his recent appointment to the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service.