Five-year-old Adam Chutani was surrounded by his heroes in blue Saturday afternoon during Police Day at the Halton regional service's headquarters.
The youngster was brought on stage to help celebrate the work that the Halton Police do. He was born prematurely and with an underdeveloped brain. He was unable to breathe on his own for the first three years of his life, requiring him to spend time at SickKids hospital.
Adam’s father, Uzair Chutani, says his son wants to be a police officer one day.
“Today, he is just like all the other kids in kindergarten,” Chutani says. “He was so excited for Police Day. He was up at five in the morning, he’s been crossing out the days on the calendar for weeks. And more than half a dozen of the teachers from his school came out today because he won’t stop talking about it.”
Halton Police Chief Stephen Tanner sat with Adam on stage and told his story to the crowd before inviting everyone to watch the demonstrations of police gear.
“We’ve held Police Day for two decades, until the last few years when we weren’t able to get together,” Tanner said. “It’s great to be able to get all of our special units, vehicles and tactical units on display, and for us to be able to give back to the community.”
Everything from the bomb squad to the K9 unit came out to show off their gear and take photos in front of their vehicles. The bomb squad detonated a small explosive using their bomb robot, shaking the ground and causing some of the younger attendees to scurry or hide behind their parents.
Standard police cruisers, armoured cars, fire trucks, ambulances, police boats and many other types of vehicles filled the regional headquarters parking lot on North Service Road in Oakville.
Guests also got to enjoy bagpipes and drumlines, motorcycle demonstrations and a team of four rappellers who descended down the front of the four-storey police headquarters building.
“We weren’t sure what kind of turnout we’d get, being the first year back,” Tanner said. “It’s great to see this kind of turnout. There are a lot of people here who are new to Canada, and they can come learn about policing in Canada, which may be different from some other parts of the world.”
The public impression of law enforcement is why the Halton Regional Police Service offers an opportunity for residents see how they operate in a stress-free environment.
Officers are able to take the time to explain why they do what they do and what each piece of gear is for, and connect with members of the community they protect.
“There’s no doubt that our profession has been under the microscope for the last few years,” Tyson Chapman, one of the Halton K9 handlers, says. “Events like this let the public have a really positive interaction with police. Typically out in public, interactions with officers are in bad moments, so it’s nice for the community to see officers for who they are – just people doing their jobs.”
