The inaugural Constable Heidi Stevenson’s Watch Awards were presented today in Dartmouth.

The awards recognize members of Nova Scotia’s RCMP and police forces who have made the most impaired driving related arrests his year. They are presented in partnership with MADD Canada, and honours Stevenson’s commitment to making Nova Scotia’s roads a safer place throughout her 23 years of service.

MADD Canada had previously recognized Stevenson for her work to prevent impaired driving with their Terry Ryan Memorial Award for excellence in police service.

“We’re holding this award ceremony today during National Police Week in honour of all police officers. We also wanted it to be close to Mother’s Day to honour all moms and especially to recognize Heidi’s most important role, as a mom,” said MADD Canada National President, Jaymie-Lyne Hancock.

Nova Scotia RCMP Constable Scott Aldridge was named this year’s top performer and one of six recipients of the gold medal, recognizing officers who made more than 25 impaired driving arrests. Aldridge says that he and his team arrested 147 impaired drivers in the HRM last year.

“You know, a lot of people, unfortunately, are alcoholics and they drink a 40 ounce a day, every day. It’s just part of our job to keep these roadways safe,” said Aldridge.

Aldridge says that this award means a lot to him as a former colleague and friend of the late Stevenson, who was one of the 22 people killed during the tragic events of April 2020. He said he was working that day trying to track down the gunman, and that if there’s one positive that could come out of those horrible events, it’s that Stevenson’s memory will live on forever with this award.

“It’ll honor her name, her memory, for life. And you know, people are winning this award in 2023 and someone will win this award in 2053, and 2073,” said Aldridge.

He also said that it’s important to recognize the hard work that officers who work on impaired driving cases do to keep people safe.

“You’re always getting an impaired at the end of your shift and you’re going home late to your family. You’ve got to do all these extra court packages and you’re always going to court on your days off. So, there’s a lot of extra work that these members are doing, and I think it’s an excellent idea that we should reward them,” said Aldridge.

Speaking to the media, Hancock said that a someone who lost a family member to drunk driving, she is extremely honoured to be able to present these awards and recognizes the officers who work to make less incidents happen every day.

“I’m excited moving forward, to recognize more officers and I think that knowing they can receive these coins and recognition, hopefully just gives them a little more drive to catch those impaired drivers and take them off the roads and keep everybody safe,” said Hancock.