Toronto Officer National Rookie of Year

A positive interaction with a Greater Toronto Area cop motivated David Um to aspire to be a police officer.

Though he could hardly communicate in English having migrated to Canada with his family from South Korea at age five, the officer engaged the newcomer and allowed him to sit on his motorcycle at an open house event.

By age 16, Um knew he wanted to be a police officer and pursued his dream job.

The 51 Division Constable is the 2025 recipient of the Blue Line Magazine Rookie of the Year Award that recognizes and encourages a standard of excellence that exemplifies leadership as an activity not a position, and pride in service to the public.

“Constable Um’s thoughtful and professional approach to policing has earned him the trust and admiration of his peers and community members,” said Chief Myron Demkiw. “We are proud of him earning the Rookie of the Year honour and for representing the very best of the Toronto Police Service.”

Um is in his third year with the Service.

“I wanted to do work that was meaningful and had purpose and also helped other people,” he said. “I always found that with policing, you are helping people out and you are problem solving. Obviously, I enjoy the dynamic component of it and the teamwork involved. All of those things drew me to policing.”

Before joining TPS in 2022, Um was a Special Constable with the University of Toronto.

He noted that teamwork is critical to effective policing.

“To have strong team cohesion and build tactical responses to more complex and serious incidents, you have to be able to rely on the teammates you work with,” he added.

There were dozens of nominations from across the country for the award.

“What makes David a great officer is his work ethic,” said Sergeant Cory Fougere. “He has amazing communication skills, he shows tons of empathy and he is just a pleasure to supervise. Our Division is one of the busiest and there are a lot of complex situations you deal with on a regular basis. As a management team, we could not be happier to have him on our shift.”

Superintendent Ishmail Musah said Um is a kind and generous officer who is invested in the community.

“For PC Um to win this award means a lot to us here at 51 Division,” noted the Unit Commander. “This shows the amount of hard work he has put in over the last year and that he hit the ground running from Day One when he graduate from the police college.”