A Two-Spirit Sudbury police officer who has won the national Rookie of the Year award opens up to CTV News about the path from inclusion work to policing.
Anik Dennie is a Metis woman who has been a uniformed patrol officer for two years at Greater Sudbury Police Service after spending a year as a special constable in the court system.
However, unlike many in Dennie's field, she said her path was not straightforward.
While earning both a bachelor's degree in health promotion and a master's in human kinetics from Laurentian University, she volunteered as part of the GSPS inclusion committee as a community member.
A member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Dennie told CTV News her studies were veering toward inclusion in sports and she began teaching safe space training, which led to her involvement as a police volunteer.
She credits that work with opening her eyes to a career in policing.
After discovering that having a desk job didn't suit her, she said she thought back to different avenues she experienced with GSPS and ended up going on a ride along with a female officer.
AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT
Dennie was nominated for the second annual Blue Line Magazine Rookie of the Year Award by two colleagues, Indigenous liaison officer Const. Darrell Rivers and Sgt. Joshua Rickard.
She said she was having lunch at her grandma's when they called and told her about the exciting news.
Later, when Rivers and Rickard announced the news at work, they invited Dennie's partner and parents.
"I thought 'I must have f'd up real bad if my parents are here," she said.
Her dad, who had a dream of becoming a police officer, but ended up in academia, was beaming with pride during the announcement.
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"It's not a career for everybody, but hands down one of the most rewarding," Dennie said.
"Police officers don't get invited to birthday parties, they show up on people's worst days of their lives."
MAKING POSITIVE CHANGE
As an Indigenous person in the 2SLGBTQ+ community, she said it takes extra courage to correct some of the negative stereotypes, but has always received a super positive response when calling out problematic comments.
When it comes to increased police scrutiny, Dennie said she tries to do the best she can and not get involved in the drama.
"In a way, I kind of put blinders on and I can only control my own actions," she said.
Last year, Dennie created the first annual GSPS Truth and Reconciliation Relay.
"The goal of the relay was to collectively reach 10,000 kilometers, which represented one kilometer per child that never returned home from Canadian residential schools. Participating GSPS members also completed a one-hour training course on Truth and Reconciliation through the Canadian Police Knowledge Network," Blue Line magazine said of her initiative.
"After completing the training, each participant reviewed the 97 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation: Calls to Action Report. The participant would then select one recommendation that spoke to them and reflect on how they could implement the action in their daily lives."
She told CTV News she is excited because the event, which leads up to Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30, is going to be even bigger this year and they are currently in the planning stages.
WAYS TO EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES IN POLICING
Sudbury police have an excellent ride-along program that hosts many events, Dennie said.
Another way to get involved is through the auxiliary or volunteering.
She said the special Const. role helped her build a lot of knowledge about the justice system, working with people after the initial arrest, bringing them to the courthouse and ensuring the security of the people in the building.
