10-06-2025
Junior police chiefs join the Waterloo Regional Police Service for a day
It's not often that rookies get to call the shots, but three of them have been catapulted up the ranks of the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
Students from across the region penned essays, made works of art or created videos to showcase what they would do if they had the chance to be a junior chief of police for a day.
Olivia, a Grade 6 student from Chalmers Street Public School in Cambridge, and Arnav, a Grade 5 student from Sandhills Public School in Kitchener, were both chosen to fill the role of deputy police chief.
Olivia wrote an essay on how important the job is and couldn't believe her eyes when she won.
'I was skeptical at first. I didn't know if it was real or not,' Olivia said. 'My friend was checking his email, so I was like, 'Oh, I should check mine.' I saw that I won, and I was like, 'Wait is this real?''
Meanwhile, Arnav drew a picture showing how police officers help the community. He said his artwork took him a week to complete.
'When I came back from school, my mom showed me [that I won] and I was screaming because it was so exciting for me,' he said.
The coveted role of junior chief went to Tasha, a Grade 7 student from Wilmot, who created a video about helping someone in need.
'I'm so happy to meet everyone at the police station,' he said. '[My favourite was] the canine unit.'
The winners reported for duty on Tuesday at 10 a.m. They were given a police uniform, toured the headquarters, visited the canine unit, saw inside a cruiser and interacted with officers throughout the day.
The official Chief of Police, Mark Crowell, said the annual competition helps the organization connect with young people in the community.
'Youth are our future,' Crowell said. 'To bring them into our organization, to hear from them, to learn from them, that makes us stronger and better and we're trying to create the best police organization possible. They get an inside view of our operations, and we learn from them on how we can serve better. It's a win-win.'
