Kentville's finest honoured for long-standing service

BY KIRK STARRATT

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Several members of Kentville’s finest, along with several other police officers from across the province, have been honoured for long-standing service.

Premier Rodney MacDonald and Justice Minister Cecil Clarke recognized a total of 240 police officers from mainland Nova Scotia during the second ceremony in the inaugural Nova Scotia Provincial Police Long Service Award Program in Halifax Tuesday, Oct. 21. Among the group were seven members of the Kentville Police Service.

A group of 104 officers from Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Guysborough County and Antigonish County were recognized in the first ceremony in Membertou Sept. 22.

The new provincial program recognizes police officers that have served in the province for 15 and 25 straight years.

The members of the Kentville Police Service honoured for 15 years’ service include Chief Mark Mander, Sergeant Darryl Brown, Sergeant Ronald Delorey and Sergeant George Dunfee. Those honoured for 25 years service include Sergeant Wilf Andrews, Sergeant Kenneth Reade and Sergeant Bruce Weir. “It’s good for them to recognize police officers,” Mander said. “It’s an asset, especially in this day and age, to have that experience.”

There is a younger generation getting into policing and Mander said it’s important to transfer knowledge from veteran officers to younger members of the force. They actively keep this in mind. For example, to effectively interview someone is a skill and it’s very important to pass skills such as this on.

More experienced than what was reflected

Mander said his force is actually more experienced than what is reflected by the provincial service medals presented. For example, He has 27 years’ police experience, just not all in Nova Scotia. He began his career in Calgary. Mander has 20 years of service in Kentville, so with this being the inaugural year for the provincial recognition program and since the next provincial medal is for 25 years’ service, he received his 15-year service medal this year.

The Kentville Police gives a 10-year service medal and Mander said you get a national medal for 20 years of service.

He said it was really nice to see Mayor Dave Corkum show his support and the support of Kentville Town council by attending the ceremony. “Without the hard work and dedication of these officers, Nova Scotia would not be the safe and secure place to live and work that we now enjoy,” Clarke said in a news release following the ceremony. “As Justice Minister, I’m pleased we have developed this important new recognition program to show our appreciation for the difficult work they do on the front lines every day.”

A full list of medal recipients can be viewed at www.gov.ns.ca/just.