Four cops who make us proud

Constable Jason Rains was named today as Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Officer of the Year.

Shown with Gunner and Tazer of the local canine unit, Constable Rains was one of four area officers recognized at a luncheon organized by the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce.

Other recipients were:

Constable Marc Lesage Constable Christian Thibodeau Constable Monique Baker

Here's what they said today about Constable Rains:

********************** (As prepared by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service)

Constable Jason Rains

Constable Jason Rains was hired by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service on January 20, 1992.

At that time, he was assigned to Community Patrol Services and eventually joined the Containment Team, where he worked until April of 1998.

Prior to his appointment to the police service, Jason attended Lake Superior State University, where he obtained an associate degree in Law Enforcement.

He has qualified for his fitness pin each year since his hire date and has only been absent from work once since 1998.

In an effort to provide the most effective policing services possible, it was determined that there was a need for canine services.

This unit would serve as another tool for front-line officers in their efforts to keep our community safe.

Constable Rains was the successful candidate in the job competition and became the first canine handler in the history of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.

Since his appointment to the Canine Unit in April of 1998, Jason has trained three canine partners under the direction of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Constable Rains has been required to attend numerous training courses, all related to his current duties.

He has also instructed canine deployment and back-up to the O.P.P. Tactical Reserve Unit (TRU), O.P.P. Emergency Response Unit (ERT), the Sudbury Police Service Tactical Team, as well as our own officers and Emergency Service Unit.

Our first police service canine was Eagle, whose career spanned from April 1998 to August 2004.

During this time, Constable Rains and Eagle responded to 1045 calls for service, which included 607 tracking calls.

Eagle was responsible for the arrest of 180 offenders, made 47 narcotic seizures and assisted in 89 other investigations.

Finding drugs and tracking suspects is exciting and is the lion’s share of the Canine Unit’s work, however, no deployment is as rewarding as assisting in the location of a lost person.

On August 15, 1999, Eagle and Jason were able to assist the O.P.P. and Sault Search and Rescue teams in the location of two nine-year-old girls who were lost in the area of Wolf Lake Road, north of the city.

If our Canine Unit never has another success story, that find makes all the effort worthwhile.

The careers of our newest police services dogs – Tazer and Gunner – are in their infancy, but they both have already made contributions.

Tazer has made a couple of arrests in relationship to break and enters and stolen vehicles.

Gunner has made drug seizures in schools.

Jason has been assisting our local school boards with their policy and procedures for dealing with canine searches within our schools as another tool in the efforts to keep our schools safe.

Constable Rains maintains a very difficult work schedule. The majority of his shifts are during the evenings, as the bulk of calls for assistance originate during these times.

This, along with the frequency with which he is away on training courses or assisting other police services, shows the dedication that has to his duties.

Due to the very demanding nature of his duties, he is very fortunate to have the understanding and blessing of his wife, Alison (also an officer with the Police Service, currently assigned to the Fraud Bureau) and their two daughters.

Since its inception, our Canine Unit has been a valuable resource and investigative tool for our front-line officers.

It is anticipated that Tazer, Gunner and Constable Rains will continue to provide a viable support service to the officers of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service and the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie for years to come.

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