'Peace Officers of the Year' honoured at annual awards gala

‘There’s never really ‘off-duty’ when you’re working with family,’ says Sgt. Will Farrell, one of nine award-winners recognized Wednesday night at Grand Gardens

Previous Next

1 / 1 Eight peace officers and one civilian were recognized at the 2023 Peace Officers of the Year Awards, hosted by Crime Stoppers of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma, at the Grand Gardens on May 17, 2023. Alex Flood/SooToday

Expand

Everyone in Garden River knows Sgt. Will Farrell by his first name.

He was one of eight peace officers recognized Wednesday evening at the Grand Gardens for their contributions to the community.

Receiving a ‘Peace Officer of the Year’ award for the second straight year as a member of the Anishinabek Police Service (Garden River detachment), Farrell has been responsible for numerous drug charges and arrests over the past year, particularly with thefts of catalytic converters.

But his genuine care for the people of Garden River, both victims and those accused of crimes, is what makes him stand out, according to his colleagues.

“I’ll drive through the community, and I’ve got a bag of candy in my duty bag for the kids,” Farrell says. “All the kids will come out and ask if I have any candy today. They all know me by my first name.”

Working alongside three other officers, Farrell says he has gotten incredibly close to his team over the years, both inside and outside the job.

“There’s never really ‘off-duty’ when you’re working with family,” he says. “It’s very community-based, and we work very closely with Batchewana Police Service as well as OPP and Sault Ste. Marie. The community-based policing is the reason I signed up to be a First Nations officer.”

Meanwhile, Sgt. Rob Wright has been a proud member of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service for just over 20 years. Like Farrell, the long-time sergeant says getting to work alongside his team and other community partners has been an absolute privilege.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with pretty much everyone in the service in one capacity or another,” Wright says. “It’s a team environment, we support each other, and we’re a giant family.”

Last year, Sgt. Wright helped save the life of a distressed individual who jumped into the St. Marys River with self-inflicted injuries. Along with the help of civilians and other community supports, they managed to bring the person to safety.

“There’s a huge outreach between our service and other community members which are able to come together, and that’s been building up over the last 10 to 15 years. It really showed in that case on the [St. Marys] river.”

In addition to the eight peace officers who received awards on Wednesday, Crime Stoppers also took the opportunity to recognize Marny Mills, a civilian who has made significant contributions to the 'Wanted Wednesday' program by helping select suspects and promptly removing them from the system following their arrest.

“It’s really cool to be recognized,” Mills says. “As I’m going through the course of my day, I’m continually thinking about who we can put out for Wanted Wednesday.”

Hosted by Crime Stoppers of Sault Ste. Marie & Algoma District, the Peace Officer of the Year Awards recognized eight peace officers across seven agencies, including the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, Anishinabek Police Service, Batchewana First Nations Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, Algoma Treatment & Remand Center, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and The Canada Border Services Agency.