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Constable reviews chapters of a lengthy career continued from p.1 Crawford said policing was a natural fit for him, and his wife Lina, already with the local police service, had recommended it. His first assignment was foot patrol in Burlington, which the officer said was a tougher environment back in the early 1980s. "You had a lot of the steelworkers coming over," he said. "It was always fight night on a Friday or Saturday night, right downtown and on Plains Road because there were strip clubs there." The constable had an early introduction into just how difficult policing could be on the occasion he was called to a home after receiving reports of a 16-year-old armed with a knife. He soon learned the youth had been intoxicated for several days and suddenly snapped, grabbing a knife, slashing things and threatening people. Crawford said there were no trained police negotiators back then and so it fell to him and his partner to talk the youth down. He recalled the officers were advanced on numerous times by the knife-wielding youth. Despite the threat, both officers continued talking and eventually convinced the youth to disarm and relinquish himself into custody. "Years later, I was contacted by that boy's parents and they said he was doing much better," said Crawford. "It means so much to get calls like that." Patrolling the waters The constable's responsibilities changed as the years passed and in 1987 he was made part of the Halton Regional Police Service Marine Unit, which consisted of a single Boston Whaler. At that time, he said many police marine units on Lake Ontario concentrated only on their own limited areas off the coast of their communities. Crawford said he arranged to have as many as seven different police marine units come together and participate in a series of drills, which ranged from anti-smuggling scenarios to largescale search-and-rescue operations. The idea, he said, was to show what could be accomplished when these marine units worked together. Taking on poachers and unsafe boating activity in Bronte was another of Crawford's responsibilities during his time with the marine unit. "People would poach the fish going up the river to spawn. It would take us three hours to go from Bronte Harbour to where the Rebecca Street bridge is now and by that time that Boston Whaler would be full of (confiscated) beer and we would have like 30 or 40 charges from going up there. We would have people throwing beer bottles at us and that sort of thing," said the officer. "All this was to deal with the people who were killing the salmon to get the fish eggs out of them, which they would use for trout fishing. There would be wall-to-wall fish laying along the side of the creek and it would just stink." This period also saw Crawford jump into the stormy waters of Lake Ontario to save a man from drowning as the Marine Unit responded to reports of a sinking vessel. He received a Chief's Commendation. Patrolling in Bronte His policing career took another turn in 1996 as he became the Bronte Village Constable. While the area is picturesque today, back then Crawford said Bronte had a real problem with vandalism. It didn't take long for the constable to recognize youths had nothing to do and were acting out as a result. The constable attacked this problem by pushing for the creation of a skateboard park. Helping to create the Bronte Youth Centre was another initiative he championed. "That's the thing about being a good cop. You don't always have to bust everyone's chops," said Crawford. "All the kids are down on Lakeshore Road and you tell them to move along. All you are doing is moving them around. It's better to give them a safe haven." Patrolling the high schools Crawford later found himself working as high school liaison officer for a number of schools in north Oakville. He worked with school administrators to better deal with student fights. Crawford said he also made a point of walking the halls to let the students know he was there and that they could speak to him if they wanted. Through his time as high school liaison officer, Crawford also identified, using Google maps, areas of concern. The maps were handed out to assist officers patrolling the areas. "You wouldn't believe the amount of arrests that were made." Crawford's hard work for these and other initiatives did not go unnoticed. He received the Police Exemplary Medal, the Queen's Gold Jubilee, the Order of St. Stanislav, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John and St. John Long Service Medal, among others. A truer testament to Crawford's career may be the fact when he goes out in public, he is constantly running into people he has dealt with during his time as a police constable and the interactions are always positive. Crawford said he is going to slow down for about six months and spend some time with his wife Lina and his son, Daniel, 24. After that, he said he'll determine what direction the rest of his life should take -- listing work in the corporate field or even rejoining the military in some capacity as options he's considering. 7 | Friday, July 4, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com CREATE YOUR DREAM h t a B r o n e Kitch with any new kitchen purchased from June 1-30/14. Some restrictions apply. Cannot be combined with any other offer. 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