Before heading into Grade 6 this September, two local students tackled the top job at the South Simcoe Police Service.
Noelle Peirce and Daniel Barkan were sworn in as the junior chiefs for the day at the service’s North Division building in Innisfil on Wednesday morning, Aug. 28.
Surrounded by Chief John Van Dyke, Deputy Chief Sheryl Sutton, Special Const. Elisabeth Aschwanden, plus family of Peirce and Barkan, Maria Gucciardi, executive assistant and commissioner of oaths, had both junior chiefs repeat and sign the oaths of office and secrecy before Van Dyke presented them with their new police IDs.
“We’re really happy to have you here to be our junior chiefs for the day,” Van Dyke said. “We have a full day lined up for you.”
As their first official duty, the new chiefs were led outside by Const. Carlos Pinho, ceremonial unit commander, to inspect a line of officers from various units and ensure their uniforms were up to the task of representing the service.
Having confirmed everything was tip top, the junior chiefs set about a busy schedule on their special day including: a demonstration with the K-9 unit, tours of both the North and South divisions, meeting with the communications and courts teams, a demonstration on forensic identification, lunch at The Cove Café, a tour with the marine unit at Friday Harbour, and demonstrations from the traffic unit and the police drone.
At the end of the day, Barkan said his favourite part was patrolling the waters while zipping over the waves on the John Graves Simcoe police boat, and the most interesting thing he learned is that some dogs have a sense of smell that’s accurate as far as two kilometres away.
“It was an amazing experience,” he said.
For Peirce, the best part was meeting the chief and deputy chief as well as the K-9 unit’s police dog Nitro, all of which helped her learn how hard the officers train and how difficult their jobs can be.
“It was really, really fun,” she said, adding the experience has left her with an even greater respect for the service than before.
Both junior chiefs were chosen from dozens who applied to the essay-writing contest, which was open to students going into Grade 6 in Bradford and Innisfil.
“I believe rules are important to peace and order in our community,” Barkan read from his essay.
The Bradford resident emphasized the important role and “great job” of local police, adding it’s always nice to see officers out at community events.
He was hoping to get a better understanding of all the “great things” done by the different units and departments as well as getting to experience first-hand all the multitasking done by a chief.
With interests in sports and fitness, Barkan offered to help the service with charity games, and said he would “love” to help create a newsletter from the service geared toward kids and young teens.
“I know I would be the perfect candidate for the job,” Peirce read from her essay.
The Bradford resident explained she’s already been redirecting drivers going the wrong way on her one-way street since she was about two years old.
She values the example of her aunt, a member of the Halton Regional Police Service, as well as local role model, Deputy Chief Sutton.
“Imagine two females running the whole service,” she said, to which Sutton replied with an enthusiastic “Get her done!”
Thanks to taking theatre, Peirce was also confident in her ability to give speeches and answers questions publicly.
In her experience, officers are “super friendly” even though much of their job involves dealing with problems in the community.
Aschwanden explained that while the service has been running the junior chiefs program for more than a decade, a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic meant Peirce and Barkan were the first two participants since 2019.
