Prior to joining Centennial College, Rita Morehouse enjoyed a successful policing career of 33 years. She filled leadership roles within Uniform-and Investigative Branches, as well as Research and Development and Emergency Management and Public Safety Units within the Toronto Police Service, retiring at the rank of Detective Sergeant in 2021. Rita Morehouse has been recognized for her dedication and efforts in Crime Prevention and Teamwork, receiving 3 Team Commendations from the Toronto Police Service (1999, 2002 and 2016), as well as an Award of Excellence from the Ontario Commission of Crime Prevention (1999).
While employed with Toronto Police, Rita Morehouse was also working as contract faculty in the Police Foundations Programs of several Community Colleges in the GTA. She completed her M.Sc. in Criminal Justice Administration from Niagara University (2013), a BAA in Justice Studies from the University of Guelph-Humber (2010), a Police Foundations Leadership with Honours Diploma (2008) from Humber College, a Teaching Effectiveness Certificate from Humber College 2014, as well as Certificates in Incident Management: IMS 100, 200 and 300 (2013) from the Toronto Police Service.
Rita Morehouse’s interests include social justice issues in diversity, equity and educational projects. Examples includes being an Executive member of the Police Enabling Action through Education (PEACE) program: assisting and financially supporting students from diverse, low-income families, in acquiring a higher education (2001-2011); and being part of a police team, which built homes for Habitat for Humanity, (2009).