Award Recipients
After a heated argument with his parents, a 16-year-old Pickering male storms off, telling them he wanted to jump off a bridge. When he’s told they will call the police, he responds by saying “it would be too late by then.” Constable Sheldon Micallef locates the distraught male at a coffee shop. The officer sits down with the male and begins a conversation. The male says he just wants to jump in front of a train and then, suddenly, runs away. A minor struggle ensues but then, something beautiful happens.
As the sun was setting in a remote area of northern Durham Region, Constables Andrew Massey and Matthew Roy were returning a prisoner from an out of region escort, when they heard a call for a car submerged in water south
of Blackwater, with the occupants trapped inside. They arrived in one minute to a chaotic scene: a SUV submerged in a deep ditch full of water and they sprang into action.
Through information received and the development of community partners, the Gun and Gang Unit (G&G) commenced an investigation in the fall of 2017 regarding a person involved in firearms trafficking in Durham Region. Investigative steps were taken and it was determined this individual purchased more than 20 firearms and they had been trafficked. Although efforts were made, the investigators were unable to conclude this investigation though traditional means and it advanced to a wiretap investigation in early 2018. A number of individuals involved in this trafficking network were identified. Their criminal enterprise spanned from Hamilton to Belleville. Members of the G&G worked around the clock on the investigation in an effort to recover these firearms prior to them being used in any further offences.
During Project Bradley, 17 search warrants were executed and 23 people were arrested leading to 184 charges. Investigators seized approximately $155,000 in drugs and $56,000 in cash. Five motor vehicles were recovered Eleven firearms were also seized along with several rounds of ammunition. The majority of guns had serial numbers removed. The Project Bradley team did an excellent job taking dangerous weapons off the street and the dangerous offenders who were responsible for trafficking them.
An armed bank robbery in Courtice led to a chase and dangerous situation for responding officers. In the spring of 2018, two suspects armed with handguns entered the Scotiabank branch on Highway 2 in Courtice in the middle of the afternoon. The suspects made a demand for cash and then fled the scene.
Responding officers located the suspect vehicle with three occupants and pursued it to the Highway 401 on-ramp at Stevenson Road in Oshawa. Police were able to stop the suspect vehicle and box it in. However, the suspect vehicle attempted to flee from police by striking the police cruisers. At one point, a DRPS officer discharged his firearm as the vehicle drove towards him. The suspect vehicle managed to break free and continued westbound on Highway 401 before losing control and ending up in a ditch just east of the Salem Road off-ramp in Ajax.
The three suspects then fled on foot into a wooded area. A handgun was located in the suspect vehicle and a replica firearm was located near the on-ramp. A short time later, police officers located two suspects hiding in a residential neighbourhood in Ajax. The third suspect was arrested following the investigation.
A frantic woman calls 9-1-1 in the winter of 2018. Her abusive boyfriend is following her in his vehicle. At one point, he tried to ram her vehicle so she would stop. DRPS dispatch advised her to drive to Central West Division and officers are dispatched.
What ensued was the longest police helicopter track in Ontario and the second longest in Canada. Air1 was in the air and spotted the vehicle, which at times reached speeds of 237 km/h on the eastbound highway 401 near Oshawa. It was at that point, police dispatchers advised cruisers to break off their pursuit and let the Air1 helicopter continue the pursuit using night vision.
After a 154-km chase, taking several hours, which traveled towards Peterborough then back towards Durham, the vehicle drove over a spike belt laid out on Ganaraska Road. The driver then fled on foot into a nearby forest and was seen discarding evidence along the way. OPP ground units were able to apprehend the man in a wooded area.
