Three local officers have been recognized for their part in taking drunk drivers off the streets.

Constables Kalin Wiebe, Jeff Bartsch, and Jake Sonnenberg were each given a silver medal from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) Canada, Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD) Saskatchewan, SGI, and Lou and Linda Van de Vorst for charging at least eight impaired drivers in the past year. The Van de Vorst Family Award recognizes front line RCMP and municipal police officers for their extraordinary work in detecting and removing impaired drivers from Saskatchewan roadways.

Connie Hagel, Estevan MADD communication leader, was at the Weyburn Police Department on Friday to present the awards. She said Lou and Linda Van de Vorst started the award program after losing their son, daughter-in-law, and two young grandchildren in a collision.

"In January of 2016, the mom, the dad, and the two children were killed by an impaired driver. The mom and dad were killed instantly, the children died later in the hospital. So, the grandparents decided that they needed to recognize the officers that are taking the impaired drivers off the road."

The crash happened on Highway 11 near Wanuskewin Road.

“This award is a way for us to honour the memories of Jordan, Chanda, Kamryn and Miguire, and a way to recognize and thank the dedicated police officers who work so hard to take impaired drivers off the roads and reduce the number of people who are killed and injured,” stated Lou Van de Vorst in a press release.

“For the victims of impaired driving, every time we hear about an impaired driving charge being laid and know that a dangerous driver was taken off the road before a crash occurred, that brings us some comfort,” Linda Van de Vorst shared in a press release. “To us, that means a family will not get that phone call in the middle of the night, will not have to rush to the hospital, will not have to say goodbye to their loved ones.”

Officers who charged at least eight impaired drivers in the past year receive a certificate of recognition and a Silver Challenge Coin. Officers who charged 17 or more impaired drivers during the past year receive a certificate of recognition and a Gold Challenge Coin. Cst. Wiebe charged 10 impaired drivers in the past year, Cst. Bartsch charged nine, and Cst. Sonnenberg charged eight. The officers said at the award presentation on Friday that the department also charged three more impaired drivers in the past three days. 

Connie Hagel presented Cst. Kalin Wiebe with the silver medal during the award ceremony (photo by Jennifer LaCharite).

During the presentation, Cst. Wiebe mentioned the work done by Cst. Melinda Mintenko with the implementation of 'This Ride's On Us' program, which worked to prevent impaired driving during its operation.

"That's a huge part about this whole impaired driving thing is the prevention, the education, and Constable Mintenko did so much work on the prevention side, but unfortunately with prevention, there's always the consequences that are involved. As much as us three are being recognized today for it, everyone in this department has played a part in taking impaired drivers off the road. Luckily, in the Weyburn region for the five years I've been here, we haven't had any injuries or fatalities. We've been able to get these impaired drivers off the road before that happens and I think that's worth something to say that we are proactive in that way," said Wiebe.

The inaugural Van de Vorst Family Award was only presented to six officers in the province - three in Weyburn, one in Estevan, and two in Saskatoon.