Well over 700 people helped to kick off Police Week with a Family Fun Day event, held at the Children’s Safety Village of Brant, on Saturday, May 10, 2025.
This year’s Police Week is running from May 11 to May 17, and with the underlying theme of “Committed to Serve Together,” police stations across the province have been highlighting the role that officers play in community safety, and how members of the community can take an active role in keeping Ontario safe.
During the event, visiting families had the chance to meet various local law enforcement officers and get an up close look at what they do to keep the community safe every day.
“During Police Week, there’s lots of events that go on in the different communities, but we always host this Family Fun Day the Saturday before. It’s a completely free event for all the residents of Brantford, Brant County and Six Nations, and it’s just a great opportunity to have all the families come out and interact with the police, and for the police to interact with the public,” said Kathryn Gratton, Elementary School Resource Coordinator for the Brantford Police. “We have a large list of vendors who are taking part in this event, of course, we have BPS here with our Emergency Response Team and our K9-Unit, all of us with the community services like our Auxiliary Unit and Special Constables. We also have the Brant County OPP here as well as Six Nations Police Service, and even the RCMP also came out this year too.”
Other representatives from the CN Rail Police, Crime Stoppers, MADD, Drivewise, Special Olympics Ontario Brantford, the Ministry of Transportation and T.I.C.K. (Teaching Intelligent Choices to Kids) were also on hand to educate the community members about what they do.
Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, the youngsters spent their time checking out and trying on police gear, learning new safety tips and exploring the different police vehicles on-site. From OPP cruisers to ATVs, motorcycles and even the BPS Gurkha armored patrol vehicle, there were plenty of opportunities to honk a horn, set off a siren, or capture a photo.
“It’s really fun for the kids because they’re allowed to climb through the vehicles, to sit on the motorcycles and the ATVs, and to just touch and see all the different equipment,” said Gratton. “There were definitely a lot of sirens going off all day long, but it’s a highlight for the kids.”
A hot dog lunch, snacks and drinks were also provided throughout the afternoon, and the children were sure to line up to have their face painted by Colour Pop Face Painting, or to check out the Jungle Jamz traveling reptile show.
Another exciting part of the event included a canine demonstration with BPS Constables Adam Fisher and Paul Wiacek with their Police Service Dogs (PSD). The two were able to show the crowd the various commands and skills the dogs learn throughout their career as a PSD.
Overall, Gratton said the event was a great way to familiarize the public with the police in a non-stressful environment, and to share more information about how to get involved in policing.
“The whole event is really just an amazing opportunity for kids to interact with the police in a fun way because unfortunately, sometimes kids see police officers when they’re not having their best day, and so this kind of helps to take away that fear for them,” she said. “A lot of people bring their kids just because they like to see the stuff and climb around the police cars and things like that, but a lot of people were also coming up and talking about how they want to be a police officer, and how they would go through the recruiting process, so it that was a nice opportunity to chat with them about that too.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
