Mentoring Award

Our winner has been with her police service for 26 years. She has a strong, long-standing background in community involvement and mentoring. She has been recognized many times for her unselfish and on-going contributions to her community.

She has worked in several areas throughout her career, including uniform patrol, Community Policing, Morality and the Employment unit.

She has been a trailblazer with her Service, accomplishing many firsts. She was one of the first black female officers to join her Service in 1980. She was one of the first black female officers to be promoted. Promoted to Sergeant in 2001, she has continued to shine with significant achievements.

In particular, her contributions to youth mentoring are second to none. For many years, she has worked with and mentored youth in the black community to become valued members of the community. Through these efforts, she has been recognized as a leader in fostering positive relations between the community and her Service. In fact, as a result of her work in this area, she was responsible in 1995, for the launch of the first and now, on-going annual celebration of Black History Month in Toronto, perhaps the most significant event in the history of the Service.

Her personal mentoring amongst community members, especially within the Black community has built trust, a confidence unfortunately, long missing with police services. She is also to be lauded for developing partnerships between the various stakeholders, for it is these that have guided the involved parties through delicate deliberations and have allowed for successful conclusions.

Of course, as supervisor of the Recruiting section for Toronto Police Service, she is devoted to assisting those women who seek a challenging career in policing. She is inspirational, approachable and accessible. She provides constructive feedback, ensuring that they do not have a false impression of themselves or the career path they are embarking upon She steadfastly works for the advancement of women in policing through her mentoring. She has even been known to speak to women on the street about a career in law enforcement.