I would like to nominate Chris Doherty. Chris Doherty is an absolute HERO to my son Spencer. Spencer is a sweet and kind teenager who is on the autism spectrum and has a mild intellectual delay. When he was in Grade 9, he was sexually assaulted by an older student in an empty classroom at his high school. Spencer told us about what happened immediately after school that day. Chris Doherty was the Detective Constable at the Child Abuse Unit at the Niagara Regional Police Service that interviewed Spencer and was in charge of the case. Constable Doherty displayed amazing kindness, patience and caring as he interviewed Spencer and spoke with me as a distraught parent. He clearly explained the process of how the investigation would work and patiently answered all of our questions.

Jody Bigger was the attending officer when my husband passed away recently at home. He was so kind, caring and compassionate and helped me through everything. He has kept in contact to see how we are doing. He is our new "family" member. He made the awful day easier to deal with and his kindness will never be forgotten. This type of officer is a credit to the OPP and they are lucky to have such an amazing person representing the service.

A vulnerable person left a business in Petrolia and was missing for several hours. There was a town-wide search with a few hundred volunteers. Around midnight, Jason attended an area that had already been searched, but was very thick and was divided by a river. He said he heard a faint voice and after hearing this a few times, he made his way towards the noise. He wasn’t sure if it was the missing female yelling for help, but he continued to walk toward the sounds. He walked along the river bank and after a few minutes, he located the female sitting on the bank of the river in the mud. She was brought to safety and was in perfect health. She may have spent the night on the river bank if Jay hadn’t gone back to the area and heard her cries for help.

On October 24, 2021, I was in a severe car accident on the QEW. A driver was going the wrong way on the highway, resulting in a head on collision. Justin was the officer that came to my window and continued talking to me, asking questions, keeping me calm. I don’t think I would have been able to “walk away” from that accident if I didn’t have someone like Justin. They always say that they’re “just doing their job”, but in the moment, it’s so much more than that! I tried to reach out to thank him in person, but we were unable to connect. I feel this award would be a great way for me to say thank you for all that you’ve done:)

Constable Rob Sinclair of the Leeds and Grenville detachment for the OPP is well deserving of this award. Rob is a senior officer and goes above and beyond to attach himself to as many calls as possible to make a difference in his area, from public service calls and motor vehicle enforcements to high speed pursuits. He’s especially known for his role in commercial motor vehicle safety and going above and beyond to both ensure our roads are only filled with safe commercial vehicles and drivers, as well as assisting his fellow officers from all the surrounding detachments to conduct accident reconstruction and direct resources on major motor vehicle accidents. Rob is everything a role model officer should be and is proud to serve and protect his community.

Tanya Miller is a member of the OPP and assigned to the child sexual exploitation unit. Tanya's duties are to assist in the day-to-day operations of the provincial strategy to fight child sexual abuse in Ontario. She is one of the reasons that the provincial strategy has been so successful and is a model to other provincially run units. 

Mike Delano has worked in various specialties within the Niagara Regional Police Service and has been involved in many traumatic events. He openly shares his experiences with his new podcast “The Weight of the Badge,” which helps bring light to his own trauma, and also provides information and support to his fellow officers who may be suffering.

Many years ago, I was informed of a news article in my hometown paper regarding a youth pastor who had been brought up on charges. A youth pastor who, when I was younger, had molested me for years. At the time, I was living in Toronto, but after reading the article reaching out to any other victims, I spent a few days struggling with the choice of whether or not to come forward. After much self reflection and consideration, I came to Peterborough, which is where I met Stacey Rutherford, the officer assigned to his case.

Sam is a long time member of the Ontario Provincial Police and is assigned to the child sexual exploitation unit west region team. When you speak about giving back and caring about victims, that is Sam. She deals with child sexual exploitation, which is the worst of the worst. Sam has been responsible for tracking down victims and suspects who victimize our children online. She is truly a super hero with out a cape.

I would like to nominate Detective Constable Stephanie Spencer from the Halton Regional Police Services, Domestic Violence Investigative Unit, as my Hero of the year. Detective Constable Stephanie Spencer has been a bright light in my life for the past three years. I met her in unfortunate circumstances; I was in crisis because of intimate partner violence, and Detective Constable Stephanie Spencer was assigned to my case. The invaluable experience that I had with Det. Const. Stephanie Spencer is the reason why I never gave into the feelings of fear and shame that come with being a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, emotional and psychological abuse.