THUNDER BAY - For as long as Jayleen Beardy can remember, she wanted to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps. That journey took a big step forward when her grandfather, Sgt. Jack McKay Sr., an officer with the Ontario Provincial Police, handed Beardy her own badge.
“I just wanted to cry but I didn’t want to cry up there,” Beardy said. “I sucked it up. It was a really touching moment.”
Beardy was one of 15 new Nishnawbe Aski Nation Police Service recruits to receive a badge in a ceremony on Monday, the highest number of new recruits in the police service’s history.
“It feels so great,” Beardy said after receiving her badge. “It’s like an unexplainable moment.”
The new NAPS officers will be stationed in the 34 communities throughout the Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory. The new recruits bring the total compliment of officers to 160, and as significant as that is, NAPS chief of police, Terry Armstrong, said there is a long way to go before the police service is fully staffed.
“This is huge for us to get these numbers in place,” Armstrong said. “Obviously, it’s still not what we projected and as far as proper officer compliment and supervision of that compliment, we still need an additional 50 officers. But this is a step in the right direction.”
According to Armstrong, the addition of the new officers will provide proper rotations for officers already stationed in remote communities. For example, a community with only two officers will now get a third officer added to the rotation.
“Rotationally, they will be working alone less, and that’s very important because in today’s policing environment there’s not too many places where police officers have to work alone without backup,” Armstrong said. “We still do but this will work toward minimizing that a little more.”
The new officers graduated from the Ontario Police College earlier this month and will spend the next nine months working with a coach officer in their new posting.
Armstrong said NAPS officers provide a unique service to the communities they serve, because they are not just police officers, they are members of the community.
“There is a greater sense of community in smaller or remote areas where the officer can make a big difference as a role model,” he said. “It’s not like policing a beat where you might have somebody you see one day and never see again. You are there. You are their police officer. I really impress upon community engagement. They will treat you as family when you get accepted as a member of the community and it pays dividends to be integrated into the community.”
Beardy said she is looking forward to becoming a role model for the people of Wunnumin Lake First Nation where she will be stationed.
Born in Bearkskin Lake First Nation, Beardy moved to Thunder Bay six years ago to attend Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School. She will be the first graduate from DFC to become a NAPS officer.
Following in her grandfather’s footsteps was not always an easy journey, Beardy said, but her family supported her the entire way, and she always looked to them for strength.
“I’ve come along way,” she said. “It was tough. It wasn’t easy. But when I felt like I couldn’t do it or I wanted to give up and go home, I would just pull out my kid’s picture and say I have to do it for them.”
While Beardy’s career in policing is just beginning, she is touched that her grandfather was standing before her, setting her off on the newest part of her journey.
“He has been the biggest impact in my life and I just wanted to follow in his steps because pretty soon he will be retiring,” Beardy said. “When I was younger, growing up, I saw how he was helping a lot of people and making impacts on other people. He puts his people before himself. And growing up, I said I wanted to be like him.”
