Nominations from the public are needed to honour police officers and civilians who go above and beyond the call of duty as Ontario’s police services’ hero of the year award launched Monday.
“Every day, police officers put their lives on the line for the people they serve, and every day civilian police service employees assist members of their communities during challenging events,” said Police Association of Ontario president Bruce Chapman.
“Sometimes we forget these police service personnel are moms, dads, and neighbours that go to work like everyone else, and they end up doing some incredible things every day – we would like to know those stories.”
Details regarding nominations – which can be made through writing, video, or audio – are posted at policehero.ca
PAO executive director Stephen Reid said he hears accounts of heroism across the province “of how some potentially negative real-life situations (were) avoided as a result of what they did during a seemingly routine day at work. As a civilian that has not worked in a police setting for long, I constantly ask the question to myself and others — why don’t we talk about this more?”
The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 14.
Heroes will be honoured at an annual general meeting in Vaughan around May 17.
The PAO was founded in 1933 and supports 53 police associations.
-Kelly Roche
qewsouthpost.com 