Police officer who works with students named Kiwanis Top Cop
Edmonton’s 2017 top cop is a volunteer who works with junior high outdoor education students, search and rescue teams, and sheltering Edmontonians who face homelessness.
The Kiwanis Club of the Edmonton Oil Capital named Const. Michael Zacharuk as the “Top Cop” at a ceremony on Friday at the Edmonton Police Service Headquarters, and presented a $1,000 cheque to the Londonderry Junior High Parents Association to help run the school’s outdoor education program.
“I was shocked, to say the least,” Zacharuk said Thursday. “It’s quite an award to receive.”
For 18 years, Zacharuk has been helping with the program after a friend asked him to help out.
Growing the program to bring students to the mountains was one of his proudest memories.
“It’s great to get out and show it to the youth, some of them who have never stepped off pavement,” Zacharuk said.
Currently, Zacharuk is working out of downtown division with the Community Action Team, targeting hot spots for violent crime.
As a patrol officer, he has worked on 118 Avenue and Old Strathcona and has worked with some of Edmonton’s most vulnerable citizens and working to help shelter people facing homelessness.
“There are always wins and losses,” he said.
“Whenever I’m able to help someone — not necessarily get off the street — but even just make their day a little bit brighter, bring a smile to their face, that’s an individual accomplishment every day.”