The former chief of the Montreal police force, Philippe Pichet, has abandoned efforts to get his old job back and accepted his demotion to a lesser position.

Mayor Valerie Plante said Tuesday that she had received and accepted his letter of resignation as police chief.

Pichet was suspended with pay in December, and several months ago was reassigned to a new task as Chief Inspector in charge of security at City Hall and he will remain in that position.

He was replaced as chief on an interim basis by Martin Prud’Homme, who has been given the task of rearranging the police force's upper echelons.

In May Pichet announced he would sue the city of Montreal to get his job back as chief, and said Montreal and the provincial government has mishandled his suspension.

Following that interim chief Prud'homme wrote a scathing report about Pichet's term of office and said he had provoked a "crisis of confidence."

Prud’Homme also took his predecessor to task for not assuring the public about the police force’s integrity.

Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said he made the report public because Montrealers deserved to know what was happening in their force and added that he’s asked Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante to get the opinion of city council and the public security committee on Pichet’s situation.

Under articles in the Police Act and the Montreal city charter, the public security minister needs the okay from both those bodies to move ahead with permanently removing Pichet.

Pichet first joined the SPVM in 1991 and was appointed as police chief in August 2015.

Pichet was widely challenged within his own ranks, and many leaks to the media appeared to undermine his leadership.

His tenure was marked by controversy as he attempted to clean house, but he himself was investigated when the force spied on journalist Patrick Lagacé’s cell phone, a matter that led to an inquiry into the protection of journalistic sources.

Pichet had also had to fire his chief of staff in October following raids on the SPVM headquarters by Sureté du Québec officers.