Const. Heidi Stevenson award honours police officers’ work to reduce impaired driving

The presentation of the inaugural Constable Heidi Stevenson’s Watch Award saw 15 police officers from across Nova Scotia recognized for their work taking impaired drivers off provincial roadways.

In a partnership between MADD Canada and Nova Scotia RCMP, the award was named in honour of the late Const. Heidi Stevenson, who was among the 22 people killed in the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting.

“Having worked with Const. Heidi Stevenson back in the day, she was passionate about impaired driving, removing impaired drivers,” said N.S. RCMP Asst. Commissioner Dennis Daley.

“She spent a lot of her time in the drug recognition program; she was one of the early adopters of that program,” he continued. “It was an honour for me today to be with her husband, Dean, here today at our headquarters and awarding these very worthwhile recipients.”

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Stevenson was posthumously awarded MADD Canada’s Terry Ryan Memorial Award for Excellence in Police Service in honour of her work to prevent impaired driving.

“For a family like mine who was impacted by impaired driving, it means the world to us and to families of impaired drivers to be able to recognize the work that these officers are doing, day in and day out, to keep the roads — not only in Nova Scotia — but across Canada safe,” said MADD Canada national president Jaymie-Lyne Hancock.

RCMP Const. Scott Aldridge received the highest recognition at the event, for charging 147 impaired drivers in 2022.

The Halifax district officer said he was proud to receive the award, having worked really hard last year to earn it.

“Heidi Stevenson was my co-worker and she was my friend, and I also worked on the day at Portapique,” remembers Aldridge. “It was just a really important way that we can now honour her, we have this provincial award that will just keep her name going for life.”

Stevenson’s legacy is important for all police in Nova Scotia and across Canada, said Daley.

“Any time we can recognize a fallen officer it’s very important,” Daley said. “Especially when we can do it in an area that she was passionate about, I think that’s the most important thing. And, of course, it benefits all drivers and a provincial priority of removing impaired drivers from Nova Scotia highways.”