Uko Akpanuko, Daily Herald
Two Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) officers received the Van de Vorst Award on Wednesday for their efforts at reducing the number of impaired drivers on the road.
The two members of the Prince Albert Police Service who were given the Van de Vorst award were Combined Traffic Services officers Cst. Rob Lindsay and Cst. Harlovepreet Gahrha. The awards were presented by Prince Albert’s Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD) representative Darren Deck.
“It’s a really important day to acknowledge and recognize our members for the hard work that they do, especially when it comes to enforcement of impaired driving,” said Insp. Craig Mushka, who oversees the Combined Traffic Services Unit.
“Their dedication and commitment and hard work really does make a lasting impact in our community in terms of public safety and roadway safety.”
For Lindsay, Wednesday’s ceremony was a familiar one. He’s received the Van de Vorst Award every year since it was created.
Jordan and Chanda Van de Vorst and their two children Kamryn and Miguire were killed by an impaired driver in 2016.
“I look at that photograph (and) it breaks your heart,” Lindsay said. “I met the parents last year, looked into their eyes and felt the pains they have gone through the last 5 years, I put that in the forefront to go out there and get impaired drivers off the street so no other family will have to go through that sort of pain that they have gone through.”
Lindsay has been in service for about 15 years and has investigated about 350 impaired driving cases. He said impaired driving is a choice, and drivers need to take more responsibility for their actions.
“There are plenty of alternative things to do to get home safely, whether it’s a call for a ride (or) take a taxi,” he said. “Our city is not that big. If it’s a nice summer month you can walk a few blocks if you are celebrating with some friends or family. We just want people to make the right choice before they step behind the wheel. It could potentially change their life or somebody else’s too, so it’s all a choice.”
The Van de Vorst Family Award for Excellence in Prevention is awarded by MADD Canada and SGI for their efforts in removing impaired drivers from Saskatchewan roads. These are annual awards given to Saskatchewan police officers to celebrate their work in making the community safer.
“We are just here to help bring awareness. We help these officers to go to check stops and give out some goodies from there such as gift cards,” Darren Deck President of MADD Prince Albert Chapter said during the presentation of the awards.
Officers who charged between 8 and 16 impaired drivers in the last calendar year will be awarded the Silver Challenge Coin and a certificate of recognition. Those who have charged 17 or more impaired drivers will receive the Gold Coin Award and a certificate of recognition. The Platinum Award will be awarded to officers who have removed 40 or more impaired drivers from the roads.
“When you have an external partnership just trying to bring the awareness in our community of the impact that impaired driving has on public safety and we couldn’t do this without you so I want to thank you for stepping up and being here today to recognize two officers that have been outstanding,” Prince Albert Police Chief Patrick Nogier said prior to the presentation.
“In 2024 we had 67 impaired charges—impaired and/or refusal—and that number in itself is a bit alarming in that the community is really not picking up messaging with respect to how dangerous this activity is,” Nogier added. “You combine this with the fact that we had 20 administrative suspensions for impaired driving and an additional 40 for drug impaired driving, so when you start then tallying up those numbers you’re in excess of 120 different types of occurrences.”
Nogier added that Lindsay and Gahrha are two examples of how dedicated Prince Albert police are to holding people accountable when they decide to drive impaired.
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
