Recognizing Community Heroes
Staff Sergeant Neil Rambharack is the recipient of a 2026 Public Heroes Award for his community work after his shift has ended.
Established in 2011, the Public Heroes Awards recognize First Responders for altruism, dedication and significant contributions to community well-being.
Rambharack, who joined the Service 25 years ago, currently leads the Downtown Community Outreach Response & Engagement team, which connects people with supports for such as mental health, substance and housing in partnership with Toronto Public Health.
“Being a police officer has never just been a job for me,” he said. “It has always been about people. At the heart of everything I do is a simple belief that if someone is hurting, struggling, or vulnerable, I have a responsibility to step forward.”
In 2023, Rambharack was recognized for the partnership with the Toronto District School Board to create a dedicated space in the library at Hunter’s Glen Public School in memory of his wife, Heather, who passed away from cancer in 2020.
His family raised money to buy and curate a selection of books for students to enjoy, recognizing Heather’s passions in helping young people as a social worker and her love of reading, which she passed to their daughter, Sarah.
After Heather’s death, he and his daughter got involved in raising money for cancer research knowing more families were facing what they did as well as donating to St. Paul’s United Church, a special place to Heather, to help victims of intimate partner violence and youth programs.
Staff Sergeant Rambharack continues to serve on the parent council of a Toronto secondary school addressing issues facing students such as substance use, cyber bullying and human trafficking – instituting dialogue and prevention measures with students.
The Public Heroes Awards are administered by the Intercultural Dialogue Institute (IDI), a registered Canadian charity that promotes social cohesion through interfaith and intercultural cooperation, tolerance and dialogue by fostering understanding of both differences and similarities through various forums.
