Community Members Making CIty Safer

Ordinary citizens and community safety partners who helped people and saved lives alongside Toronto Police officers were honoured with Community Member Awards at headquarters on March 30.

“These are community members who have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the safety and well being of our communities,” said Staff Superintendent Shannon Dawson.

“They have dedicated leadership, dedication and compassion and assisted Toronto Police members in some very dangerous situations. These are real-life community heroes, living and working right here in our city and they are willing to go above and beyond to make this city a better place. These members maintained their composure and then took action. That is why they are here today and we will celebrate these heroes.”

Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) nurse Erin Gorman works alongside police officers responding to calls involving people in mental heath crisis, including thoughts of suicide or self-harm threats, distorted or psychotic thinking, anxiety and overwhelming depression.

The teams that combine a police officer and mental health nurse assess an individual’s specific needs, provide intervention and support at the scene, de-escalate the situation and ensure the person is connected to appropriate services.

“All of the officers I work with have been great,” said Gorman. “You put your trust in them for support and safety and they come through.”

She was recognized for a person in crisis call in June last year she responded with Constable Bill McLeish. They found a teenage girl in a park with a knife who told them she wanted to end her life. She had also overdosed on medication and had a rope around her neck.

Gorman built a rapport with her, calming her down and convinced her to put the knife down and untie the rope. She also persuaded her to let the team bring her to the hospital for help.

“What stood out for me about this call was that she was a young girl who looked very scared,” recalled Gorman, who has been an MCIT nurse for the last three years. “Helping young girls at this age who are going through mental health issues is satisfying for me.”

A registered nurse for a decade, she works out of 11, 14 and 22 Divisions.

Toronto Police Service Board Acting Vice-Chair Lisa Kostakis said it is a privilege to gather and celebrate the extraordinary members of the community who have played pivotal roles in helping keep neighbourhoods safe.

“As we continue to reimagine what community safety means, we look to our community more than ever to partner with us in creating a Toronto that is not only safe and liveable, but also kind and welcoming for everyone,” she said. “Each of the individuals we are honouring here today rose to the occasion, intervening to prevent death, stop crime or support important causes. Through their quick thinking, sharp observation, compassion and sheer determination, they have helped apprehend suspects, solve crimes, assist those in need and even, in a number of cases, save lives.”

Kostakis said the honourees are true heroes in the community.

“Your courage and extraordinary actions are so important in helping build safer neighbourhoods and stronger communities,” she pointed out. “Your selflessness and compassion contribute immeasurably to making Toronto not just a great city, but the safest and most caring city in the world. This is a city where people care for one another – genuinely, deeply and without hesitation.”

Ontario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner acknowledged the community members for their admirable contributions.

“They did not do this with any expectation of being thanked or receiving any award,” he said. “They did it because it was intrinsically their responsibility to do so. As a community, we never know when our moment will arrive and we will be called upon to act in defence of our own values. When a person is hurt, we have to be there to help them.”

Security officers who rushed to help a woman being attacked were among those honoured.

In May 2024, they learned from bystanders that a woman was being attacked inside a vehicle in a mall parking lot.

Security officers Hassan Kuye, Amritpal Singh, Christopher Pooran and Khushpreet Singh called police as they made their way to help.

“When we got there, we asked him to let her go,” recounted Amritpal Singh. “He pulled out a knife and began stabbing her.”

The accused stabbed the victim before the security officers were able to intervene and the man surrendered to them.

Constables Christopher Como and Antonios Papadopoulos, of 33 Division, were the first officers on the scene.

“When we got the call, we knew that someone was getting attacked in the parking lot with a knife and that security was already on scene and had secured him until we got there,” said Como, noting that the woman was severely injured and the intervention by the security officers was lifesaving.