Oshawa girl to serve as Durham Police Chief for a day

An Oshawa girl is set to take command as Durham Regional Police Chief for a day after winning a hotly contested essay competition.

Durham Police opens the contest to any Grade Five student across the region every summer about what they’d do if there were police chief. They receive hundreds of essays from these students which are judged by a panel of judges.

Of these, nine finalists were chosen to present their essays to a panel of judges which included the Police Services Board and members of the Police Appreciation Dinner and Awards Night (PADAN) Committee.

This year the winner was Kaiyah Jarrett from St. Anne Catholic Elementary School. Full-time Chief Peter Moriera surprised Jarrett at the school in an announcement at an assembly on Friday. Jarret will take over from Morieira on Oct. 17 then will be honoured at the PADAN event.

Last years winner was Gabriel Perruccio, a student from Whitby. He took the oath of office on Oct. 25 last year before serving with Traffic Services and Forensic Services. He then supervised a use of force demonstration and capped off his day with a helicopter ride around Whitby and over his school.