James Ramer has been a member of the Toronto Police Service since 1980.  He was appointed as Chief of Police in August 2020.

Prior to being appointed to his current position, Chief Ramer was the Deputy Chief of Specialized Operations Command (SOC); overseeing 1,200 police officers, 160 civilian members, and managing a budget of $240M. SOC is comprised of the Service’s various investigative squads and a variety of specialized uniform units.

As Staff Superintendent of Detective Operations, he was responsible for such specialized units as Homicide, Hold Up, Sex Crimes, and Financial Crimes. He was also the Unit Commander at 22 Division, the Community Mobilization Unit, Professional Standards, the Emergency Task Force, and Intelligence Services.

He holds memberships with the International Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP). He sits on sub-committees for the CACP and OACP that pertain to counter terrorism, national security issues, and organized crime. Chief Ramer is also a member of the Executive Body for the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario and the National Executive Committee (NEC).

Chief Ramer has completed the Leadership in Counter Terrorism Program (LinCT), Senior Police Management (Boston College), and National Securities Studies (Canadian Forces Staff College). He has also completed the National Incident Commanders Course (NICWGA), the Senior Police Administration course, and is a certified Incident Commander.

He is a Board Member with the LinCT Executive and with Covenant House.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and History, together with post-graduate studies in Industrial Relations and Ontario History, from the University of Toronto.

In 2010, he was awarded the 30 year Police Exemplary Service Medal, in 2012 was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in 2019, was appointed Member of the Order of Merit (M.O.M.) of the Police Forces.