Gary is a kind compassionate young officer. This was shown during a call to assist a young mom in labour. He ended up actually helping to deliver a healthy baby who was anxious to be born. Congrats Gary - you did a fantastic job.

I am nominating my husband because he truly is a hero in many ways. After serving 10 years in the Armed Forces and multiple deployments to the Middle East, he retired and became a Special Constable - Court Security Officer for York Regional Police. After suffering from PTSD and depression, he bounced back and raised close to $50,000 for Movember. He has won the Queen's Jubilee Medal for his commitment to the community. On February 29, 2020, my husband and I, along with a friend, were having dinner at a restaurant in Markham. At another table, a woman began choking. She was unable to breathe. 

I met officer Maharaj when I was in high school. He came in to speak with my class and several others. He established an amazing rapport with multiple young, influential teenagers. Many of us saw him out in the community and he would take time out of his day to talk to us and see how we were doing. He treated us with respect and as "adults". I have been out of high school for approx 6 years now, and I can still remember this kind soul. Extremely dedicated to showing the Durham area that officers are people too. He's already won this nomination in my books! From a now fellow first responder, thanks for showing the world that we are people too.

Mike Stratford is an Air Cadet Leader where my daughter parades at 534 Peterborough. Always helpful and encouraging, he presents a strong role model to the cadets. He goes above and beyond with leadership, instruction, trip organization and effective speaking. He brings in special speakers and plans extracurricular events. He is hard working and we are all grateful to have him involved with our youth. He sets the bar high for others and lives up to it himself. 

Jeff McLean, Carey Widbur and Jennifer Roach are extremely community oriented. They do an huge amount of events including the Special Olympics, visiting schools, the DARE program, and also a safety program specifically for Special Needs children through Medic Alert. All three of these amazing officers deserve to be local heroes. I nominate all three of these officers with the Shelburne Police Service.

Jeffrey encompasses everything an officer should. He takes great pride in his duties when on or off shift. Jeffrey has done a phenomenal job of reigniting the DARE program, putting fuel behind the torch run, and making his team's polar plunge a major success each and every year. He raises an outstanding amount of money for causes which are close to my heart. I am very proud to know this man, and only hope others take his lead in the future. Thank you for all you do, Jeffrey. You are a role model.

I would love to nominate Evan Harrison for the Police Services Hero of the Year Award. It was an absolute pleasure having him inspire possibilities at Community Living London's annual Night of Heroes Fashion Show this year. The Show is all about highlighting some of London's biggest community heroes as well as the people we support, which include individuals and families living with disabilities. He is so accepting of the people our organization supports and his efforts to create an inclusive community through his volunteer and educational work make him an outstanding candidate for this award. Thank you Evan for keeping London a safe, inclusive, and wonderful place to reside!

This officer exemplifies what a police officer should be with one major difference. Every year, he makes time in his already busy schedule to ensure hundreds of kids get a day to spend with police officers fishing. This gets the kids to see and understand that police officers are good, teaches the kids important things about safety, and gets hundreds of parents talking to our local officers. The amount of effort he has put onto this event every year for 10 plus years is a huge commitment, and so many children and parents have enjoyed this community event over the years.

I have known Cst. Stephenson for many years, both professionally and personally. You could not ask for a more dedicated police officer who was also the best police association president. He would always take the time to listen and research every item that was brought to the table with the police association.

I would like to nominate a very fine man who had made a huge impact on the state of our downtown. Constable Mark O’Connell is an 18 year veteran of the Guelph Police Services. Constable O’Connell walks the beat of downtown Guelph. He pops into businesses to see if they’re ok, any problems, and so on. But he goes above and beyond. Like most cities and town, Guelph has a very visible addiction and homelessness crisis. But Mark treats the suffering drug addict/alcoholic with respect.