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Halifax Regional Police (HRP) presented its 2013 Police Officer of the Year Award this evening at the department’s annual awards night.
Constable Leigh Pike, a Patrol Officer in East Division (Dartmouth), was named Police Officer of the Year for his professionalism, compassionate and calm approach to the job and keen observation skills. He is known for his ‘get-it-done’ attitude, including arrests, cases cleared by charge, and quick response to calls, whether it’s straight from fall-in or almost quitting time. His supervisors and peers applaud his keenness to be first on scene at calls for service and his willingness to back up his fellow officers. Cst. Pike is such an outstanding officer that the employee who nominated him said it was a struggle to write the nomination without sounding nauseating. You do us proud, Cst. Pike.
Other award recipients from the evening include:
- Detective Constable Steve Langille was named Investigator of the Year for playing a major role in numerous high-profile, complex homicide investigations. His investigative skills and specialized training, forward and progressive thinking, and ability to lead and effectively communicate with members of the community and his colleagues are all contributors to the collective success of the HRP/RCMP Major Crime Unit.
- Sergeant Greg Mason of the Forensic Identification Unit and Verona Singer of the Victim Services Unit received Supervisor of the Year awards.
- Constables Grant Fiander and Sherri Samson received the New Blue Award, which is presented to an officer or officers with five years or less policing experience who have shown a great deal of promise through their professionalism, high integrity and excellence in policing.
- Voted on by HRP employees, the Employees’ Choice Awards went to Sergeant Don Stienburg of the HRP/RCMP Integrated Major Crime Unit and David Webber of the Forensic Identification Section.
- Theresa Rath of the Public Relations Unit was named Civilian Employee of the Year.
- Constables Brad Jardine and Curtis Osmond of the East Division Quick Response Unit were named Team of the Year.
- An HRP Achievement Award was presented to Constable Steve Saunders, Constables (retired) Darrell Lysens, Ron Morgan and Cedric Upshaw, and civilian (retired) Ernie Reti. They were all members of Blue Thunder, a former police rock band that not only put a positive face on policing, but played music to over 100 schools and groups in Atlantic Canada, the Nova Scotia Tattoo and the G7 finale in front of 10,000 people. They also had two videos on Much Music and produced a one hour ATV “Special” during a trip to Slovakia, through which they brought community policing to the area.
Just as important as the awards, the evening represented an opportunity to applaud those employees who retired in 2013. Nine police officers, seven civilian employees and one police chaplain were recognized for their years of dedicated service to our community. They departed Halifax Regional Police with 503 years of combined service.