By RON FANFAIR, TPS

A group of north Etobicoke officers in 23 Division, who rescued a young child by the legs from falling from a three-storey window, were honoured with the Toronto Police Officer(s) of the Year Award on May 25.

They are Sgt. Brian James and Consts. Ramandeep Singh, Kwabena Saffu, Deanna Jovanovich and Nicholas Ditlof.

In June 2020, they responded to a person in crisis call at a residence.

When they arrived, they found a man dangling a crying child – later identified as his six-year-old son – out of the window. The boy’s grandmother had tried to help him before being punched and choked by her son. The boy managed to pull from his dad and hold onto an adjacent window ledge.

Firefighters assembled a safety tarp to catch the child if he dropped.

As the officers entered the room, the man jumped from the window, falling three storeys onto a driveway as his son dangled from a nearby window ledge. The officers ran to the window and were able to grab the boy’s arms and bring him to safety.

With assistance of other responding officers, the man was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for psychiatric treatment. He was later charged.

Since the incident, officers – who have been impacted by the call for help that day – have visited with the child and his family.

James, who is in his 26th year with the Service, credited excellent teamwork for the successful outcome.

“A lot of people did very real things,” said James. “There were three officers upstairs who were able to save the kid from falling out the window. There were other officers, who once the accused had jumped, who were able to arrest him.”

Each month, an officer or a group of officers is selected for Police Officer(s) of the Month, based on bravery, humanitarianism, superior investigative work and outstanding police skills.

The Police Officer(s) of the Year is selected by seasoned journalists, community and business members.

Two Toronto Police court officers were honoured with the Civilian Excellence Award for saving the life of a drug overdose victim.

On November 25, 2020 at around 2 a.m., Paul Hawke and Harrison Marshall were in a Prison Transportation vehicle heading to Traffic Services headquarters at 9 Hannah Ave. when they saw the victim in the middle of the roadway.

“We were going there from Scarborough because our vehicle needed to be out of service as the camera wasn’t working,” said Marshall. “When we got out of our vehicle, it was clear this was a classic sign of opioid overdose.”

Taking the Naloxone kit from his partner, Marshall delivered two doses to the victim and started to perform CPR.

“That seemed to work as he began to come around and that was when we took him to the side of the road so he wouldn’t be run over by an oncoming vehicle,” he noted. “EMS came a few minutes later and was able to provide the man with the proper help he needed.”

Prior to joining Toronto Police, Marshall worked with Correctional Services.

“In that role, I employed numerous amounts of Naloxone,” he added.

Hawke, who joined the Service 30 years ago, called EMS and acted as the lookout to ensure the area was safe while his partner delivered the Naloxone shots.

In 2009, a Business Excellence Award was established to honour exceptional Service members whose valuable contributions enable the organization to work effectively and efficiently.

A panel of business experts select the winner.