WINDSOR: MADD Canada has unveiled a new award in honour of a late Enfield RCMP officer that will recognizing police officers that contribute to reducing the number of impaired drivers on roads in N.S.
The new award will be named the Const. Heidi Stevenson Watch Award.
Const. Stevenson was among the 22 people and an unborn child killed during a 13-hour rampage by a gunman in mid April 2020.
This new MADD Canada award honours Cst. Heidi Stevenson and recognizes the efforts of police officers across the province to make Nova Scotia’s roadways safer.
It is being publicly announced this week, as MADD Canada, police services and road safety organizations observe National Impaired Driving Prevention Week, March 20 – 26.
Cst. Stevenson loved her chosen career, and spent most of it in Nova Scotia. She held many different roles throughout her 23 years as an active RCMP member, including as a dedicated Drug Recognition Expert. Heidi was especially proud of her expertise in that area and the respect judges had for her professionalism in court.
She had a passion for helping to make Nova Scotia’s roadways safer. Heidi was one of the 22 people killed by a gunman in April 2020 in Nova Scotia.
Each year MADD Canada will award members of police services across Nova Scotia in Cst. Stevenson’s name who remove impaired drivers from Nova Scotia’s roads, reducing the deaths and injuries caused by impaired drivers. The first award recipients will be announced in May 2023.
“MADD Canada works closely with police services and we know how truly dedicated they are to taking impaired drivers off the road,” said Jaymie-Lyne Hancock, MADD Canada National President.
“We are very appreciative to have the support of Constable Heidi Stevenson’s family and the RCMP to help us recognize, in Heidi’s name, the incredible efforts of officers who work so hard to protect Nova Scotians.”
Every year, hundreds of people are killed and thousands are injured in crashes involving alcohol, cannabis and/other drugs. Police – often the first people on the crash scene and the people who have to inform the families of those killed and injured – are dedicated to taking impaired drivers off the roads before devastating crashes occur.
Constable Heidi Stevenson’s Watch is a collaborative effort among MADD Canada, the Nova Scotia Police Chief’s Association, the Nova Scotia Department of Justice and the Nova Scotia RCMP.
To hear more from Jaymie-Lyne Hancock on the Constable Heidi Stevenson’s Watch award: Constable Heidi Stevenson’s Watch – YouTube.
