Laura Ellis Award for Community Service

This officer's 16-year career began first, with her municipal police service and then, through amalgamation with the OPP. She has worked as coach officer, scenes of crime officer, youth officer, domestic violence co-ordinator and now, as Community Services and Media Relations Officer with the Ingersoll Detachment.

As a result of a 2005 family visit to the OPP museum in Orillia, this officer began exploring an idea that would eventually successfully run throughout the Oxford County secondary school system. She developed a business plan, securing sponsorship from local businesses that would see an innovative launch to the Traffic Safety/Victoria Day celebrations.

"Departure Day" was her idea and this is how it worked. Local high schools, including student volunteers and teachers, as well as both EMS and Victim Assistance Program personnel, were all necessary for the success of this program. After obtaining the necessary support from school principals, Departure Day was planned to coincide with the upcoming Victoria Day, long weekend.

Departure Day was a concept that would lead students to make positive choices so that they wouldn't be injured or worse, wouldn’t die as a result of impairment by alcohol or drugs while driving.

The sound of a car crash over the school's PA system at the start of the day was followed by the words: "Statistically speaking one of you will not survive this upcoming holiday weekend. Today is unlike any other day, you will witness the Departure of Young Life in a very profound way." Those words were repeated every 20 minutes for the entire school day on May 17th, 2005.

Teams of police, fire & paramedics along with student volunteers and teachers filed the school representing the deaths of students. They wore black t-shirts, with the following message: "Hi, I’m sorry I am unable to speak with you ... ever again. I became a statistic today like they said I would. I died today from making the choice of drinking and/or doing drugs and then, driving. I'm not lonely though because in North America, every 22 minutes another person dies from making the choice of impaired driving. Just imagine all the people who didn't make the choice, but had it made for them."

The campaign was deemed an outstanding success as they were NO reports of young persons injured or killed in a drug or alcohol related collision on that holiday weekend in Oxford County.