#3 District
3527 Baseline Road, Sutton
Command Team:
Superintendent Mark Tatz
Inspector Heidi Schellhorn
Located in the Town of Georgina, Inspector Heidi Schellhorn and Superintendent Mark Tatz lead the 97 sworn and three civilian members of #3 District Headquarters. The District provides policing services to more than 47,000 residents in the communities of Keswick, Sutton and Pefferlaw, as well as several hamlets including Udora, Port Bolster, Brownhill and Baldwin. The eight members of the York Regional Police Marine Unit work from the volunteer-run Community Policing Centre located at Crate’s Marina in Keswick.
Situated on Lake Simcoe, the area is well-known for its water activities. During summer months, cottagers and visitors enjoy an abundance of local parkland, as well as swimming and boating activities. In winter months, the area is a haven for snowmobilers and ice anglers.
Georgina Island is also home to the Chippewas of Georgina Island, a First Nations community. For the past 20 years, officers and band members have gathered for the annual Georgina Island Barbeque and Information Day.
OUR OFFICERS IN ACTION
Joint Opportunities Georgina
The highly successful Joint Opportunities Georgina (JOG) running program was the inspiration of #3 District Inspector Heidi Schellhorn.
An accomplished runner, Heidi has competed in a host of marathons, in addition to nine Ironman triathlons.
When she herself was a high school student, Heidi had been a smoker and spent her leisure time hanging around the school’s smoking area. What she didn’t realize was she had caught the eye of her gym teacher, Mrs. Marg Clarke, who saw untapped potential in Heidi.
“Mrs. Clarke challenged me to a competition – a two-mile run. There was no way I wanted to be embarrassed by losing to a teacher so I stopped smoking and started training,” she said. “We never did have that race, but I realized then how much of an impact she had on me. I also knew what a difference a program like JOG could have on kids today.”
Community Mobilization Officer Constable Karen Hodge was the first to approach Sutton Public School’s principal Steve Young with the concept of JOG, which would conclude with a five-kilometre fun run at Sibbald Point Provincial Park in Sutton.
It was a great fit with the board’s Healthy Schools Program, which promotes nutrition, exercise and positive life choices.
“JOG presented a wonderful community connection with the police, who generally interact with the kids during incidents at the school or as part of the Values, Influences and Peers (VIP) program,” said Young. “Teachers and police officers are community leaders and JOG gave both a unique opportunity to build stronger relationships with the kids and mentor them towards a positive lifestyle.”
From the outset, JOG has been a success story. More than 40 students representing every grade level took part in the weekly exercise program, which included 20-minute talks by guest speakers on topics related to the importance of healthy eating and proper sleep. In addition, police officers explained how being fit helped them do their job.
For Grade 6 students Sarah Stone, Danielle Pegg and Kaitlyn Lyons, the JOG program was a fun way to hang out with friends.
“When we started out, the course was 400-metres long, but we could only do about half a lap at full speed before we needed to rest,” said Sarah. “It took the full eight weeks before we could run two laps at a nice steady speed. It was a huge feeling of accomplishment to run through the finish line.”
Giggling as girls do, they said it was weird at first to see police officers wearing civilian clothes, but over the eight-week JOG program, they learned to see the officers as regular people.
Danielle Pegg’s mother, Doris, was pleasantly surprised at the race-day setup.
“I hadn’t expected this – an actual five-kilometre run had been set up with a taped-off finish line. The kids were given T-shirts and water bottles,” explained Doris. “They even pinned runner’s numbers to their T-shirts.”
The JOG program will continue in April and September 2010.
