For as long as she can remember, Olivia Baker has wanted to become a police officer.
So, when the Whitby, Ont., girl became a Grade 5 student — and eligible to enter Durham police’s annual chief-for-a-day contest — she penned all of her reasons why.
“I want to protect and guard my community so everyone can feel safe and live their lives freely,” reads the essay. “I would love to dress up in a uniform and rock that police hat.”
“If I arrested someone,” it continues, “I would talk to the person who did the crime and try to understand why they did it.”
She, as well as other Grade 5 students from across Durham Region, sent in their essays to Durham police, hoping their submissions will mean they will get to don the chief’s police cap.
When Chief Paul Martin surprised her at school on Monday, she knew her words won over the judges.
Moe Pringle, who was on the panel, says they chose Baker “because of the content as well as the delivery of her outstanding essay,” which she recited to them last week with the other finalists.
“I’m going in a helicopter, which I’ve really wanted to do,” said Baker, who goes to C.E. Broughton Public School in Whitby, Ont.
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Her ride in an Air 1 helicopter is only part of her daylong gig on Oct. 23. Her day will start with a pickup in a police cruiser to bring her to her swearing-in ceremony. Officers will then give her a grand tour, which includes a visit to the forensics unit — all while she wears her own chief suit which she gets to keep.
She says she would like to see more women wearing suits like these. “Some ladies think they’re not strong enough to be police officers because they’re not as strong as men but everyone is equal, and we’re all strong in our own way.”
Baker’s strength — her mother says — comes from within, as she describes her as a “strong leader.” She has won many leadership awards at her school over the years.
“She is not fazed by many things,” Heidi Baker says.
Her mother, however, is fazed by how her daughter wants to pursue policing, a high-risk industry, as a career. “I have to admit, as a mother… I just get a little bit nervous but I know that she can do it.”
Dave Selby, a spokesperson with Durham police, says the contest continues to be successful because it is educational. “They’re learning about policing,” he says. “They’re learning about what an important job it is and I think that’s really positive.”
Baker is the 16th winner of the yearly competition.
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