Special Constables Invaluable to Service

Chief Myron Demkiw told the newest Special Constables they are indispensable to keeping the organization and the city run smoothly.

“You will help secure crime scenes and preserve evidence and you will execute warrants and other court orders,” he said at the graduation ceremony at Toronto Police College on November 29. “You will secure and transport individuals who are in custody and your work allows officers to focus on critical law enforcement duties, ensuring the entire team operates more effectively.”

Joining the Service at a pivotal time in one of the fastest growing cities in North America and one of the most diverse cities in the world, the Chief said the graduates will enhance the Service with a wealth of diverse life and professional experiences, culture and languages that uniquely reflect the diversity of Toronto.

“I have every confidence in your ability to serve with professionalism and according to our core values, treating everyone you encounter with empathy and respect.”

The Chief implored the new Special Constables to make self-care a priority.

“This is very important,” he said. “Your health, safety and well-being are essential for us to serve our communities effectively. We want you to be happy and healthy and to have a long and fulfilling career with us. As an organization, we continue to make progress ensuring that mental health is a safe topic to discuss openly. We will offer every support we can to assist with your success as you selflessly serve Torontonians. Your health, your safety and your well-being will always be our top priority.”

This is the first Special Constable graduation since the Community Safety & Policing Act was enacted, bringing with it a significant amount of new mandated training, legislated by the Solicitor’s General Office and developed by the Ontario Police College.

The expanded 16-week training covered academic, practical and dynamic scenario elements along with a written and demonstrated Use of Force exam.

“You have learned about so much in the world of policing and community safety in a variety of diverse areas,” noted Toronto Police Service Board Vice-Chair Lisa Kostakis. “You now join the Toronto Police Service family, contributing to ensuring community safety in neighbourhoods across this city in a number of significant ways.”

It is the fourth cohort of Special Constables trained in District Special Constable (DSC), Court Officer and Booking Officer roles before being assigned to one of the unique positions.

The graduates will do field training for the next six months – two months each in the DSC role, Court Services and the Divisional Booking position.

Booking Officers are responsible for booking, searching, fingerprinting, and photographing persons in custody, maintaining the security and wellbeing of prisoners in custody and managing people in emotional crisis and physical distress, using available resources such as the Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams or Emergency Medical Services.

Some of the graduates will assist in Divisions, supporting police officers in their work as well as managing prisoners while others will work in Court Services, helping to maintain security at courthouses and transporting prisoners.

“Each of these are vital roles, each of these are critical responsibilities all of which contribute to the dynamic and complex work of the Toronto Police Service in ensuring that neighbourhoods across this city are safe, that residents from every community are served and protected by our organization,” said Kostakis.

“Regardless of where you are placed and regardless of the responsibilities you take on, you will now form an important part of the matrix of community safety provided by the Toronto Police Service. Thank you for signing up for this vital role, for wanting to contribute so meaningfully and powerfully to making our communities safer and better.”

The DSC position was created to supplement and help create capacity for frontline officers by taking on tasks that would otherwise be assigned to police officers such as guarding a crime scene or canvassing for information. The training included instruction on crime scene management and de-escalation techniques.

Of the 54 graduates, 30 are internal hires, including Nicholas Fulton who was a Parking Enforcement Officer for five years.

In the last year, he operated the Street Sweeper, a vehicle with automated plate recognition technology that helps identify stolen vehicles.

“I got a pleasing email from someone after I recovered their vehicle and that really touched me,” said Fulton. “The person was very appreciative and that told me I could do a little bit more.”

He said the preparation was thorough.

“We are the first class to take the OPC exam as mandated by the province and that entailed a lot of studying,” said Fulton. “Doing that and all the physical work was quite the experience, but I got through it and am ready for my new role.”

Sandeep Rakhar, who has a Nursing diploma and aspires to be a police officer, is using this role to gain policing experience.

“I have always wanted to be in positions where I could serve people,” said the 22-year-old, who has also worked as a security guard. “What better way you can do that than by working with Toronto Police. I want to learn and grow in this position.”

Andres Moreno and Eric Koehler achieved a 100 percent academic mark, Curwin Elvin won the Physical Training Most Improved Award and Courtney Milner secured the Physical Training High Performance Honour.

Marcus Bautista was the Class Valedictorian.

“Standing here today, I am reminded that this moment isn’t just about finishing our training,” he said. “It is about honouring who we have become through it. We arrived here as individuals, each carrying our own stories and dreams. But over the course of these months, we became a team, forged by sweat, shared laughter and moments that pushed us to our very limits. And today, we are more than just a graduating class. We are guardians of a promise to Toronto.

“There were days when we were exhausted, when training felt relentless and when we questioned ourselves. But those were the days we discovered something extraordinary and that is our strength does not just come from our ability to stand tall, but from our willingness to lift each other up. When we struggled, we reached out a hand. When we succeeded, we shared the victory. And that is what makes us special. Because as Special Constables, our job is not to stand above. It is to stand beside…Today, we do not just step forward. We rise. We carry with us a promise to serve with pride, to uphold justice with compassion and to stand as a light in the darkest moments.”

There are approximately 820 Special Constables serving with TPS.

Learn more about a career in policing at www.tps.ca/careers