TOP COP TOUTED
Const. Mike Bal, 29, was named a top-40, law-enforcement professional under age 40, for leadership and commitment, at International Association of Chiefs of Police
A Vancouver police officer described by colleagues as a rising star has been honoured by police chiefs worldwide.
Const. Mike Bal, 29, an eight-year veteran with the Vancouver Police Department, was named a 2017 top40, law-enforcement professional under the age of 40, for his leadership and commitment to police work, at the International Association of Chiefs of Police on Tuesday.
“Mike is a rising star in my mind and I know his co-workers feel the same,” said Insp. Howard Tran of the VPD Youth Services Section and who nominated Bal for the honour. “He is a super-motivated guy, has a unique blend of everything, is driven and has a great passion for working with kids. I obviously feel strongly about the work Mike has done.”
Bal was a VPD patrolman before joining the Youth Services Section, and is a nationally certified, award-winning crisis negotiator.
The son of a Royal Hong Kong police officer, Bal was in transit Wednesday from Philadelphia, where the International Association of Chiefs of Police was held.
“My father taught me about the impact an officer can have on a community and struggling youth,” he said in a statement. “I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with these kids, and hopefully make a difference in someone’s life.”
For the past two years he has been a school liaison officer at Thompson Secondary and eight elementary schools comprising 2,000 students, helped to launch several community initiatives, and has participated in community youth outreach in an effort to keep youth out of gang activity.
“Working with young people who demonstrate so much drive and energy motivates me to dedicate myself toward their goals and be the inspiration for them to reach for their best,” he said.
Some of the programs Bal has helped launch include:
Project Jawani: Alongside Det. Const. Steve Kingra, Bal organized this program to gather South Asian youth for open discussions about challenges they face and to provide mentorship opportunities.
Project Breakaway: The sportbased program brought together teens of different ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs and athletic abilities for regular floor hockey games with police officers.
Mental Wellness Peer-to-Peer Support: Bal teamed up with mental health professionals to develop a mental health support group at David Thompson Secondary that educates youth on mental wellness and provides them with the chance to share interactive presentations with other students. The program is now expanding across the Vancouver school district.
Last year, Bal was also selected by the U.S. State Department as one of two Canadians to serve as international youth ambassadors and to mentor 16 Canadian teens as the group travelled to Ottawa, New York and Washington for an educational program.
He has also organized two annual soccer tournaments, including the Rick Schaaf Memorial Cup, in honour of his own high school liaison officer who died of cancer, and the Paul Sanghera Memorial Tournament, which honours an officer killed in the line of duty in 1982.
“We are very proud of Const. Bal and the focus he places on working with the community,” VPD Chief Adam Palmer said. “We have constraints on our resources and that’s a challenge for us, but we prioritize giving time and support to initiatives like the ones that Mike has developed.
“The grassroots work Mike is doing now, with Vancouver’s youth, will pay off for the community in the future.”
While in high school, Bal was also awarded the City of Vancouver’s Citizen of the Year recognition for his fundraising efforts with Cops for Cancer. Bal holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminology from Simon Fraser University.