Two Richmond Mounties have been handed a prestigious award for their work in promoting public safety and crime prevention.
Constables Jagmeet Dandiwal and Harbir Sangha received this years Ministry of Justice Community Safety & Crime Prevention Media Award for their efforts in programs delivered to the Punjabi and South Asian communities.
The officers were honored last Friday at the BC Crime Prevention Associations Symposium held in Burnaby.
Since June 2011, the Dandiwal and Sangha have been appearing, on their own time, regularly on Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 1550s popular show Lok Sath with host Harjit Singh Gill.
The talk show is conducted in the Punjabi language and is broadcasted live to thousands of listeners in B.C. and parts of the U.S.
Its also broadcasted live on the internet and is, apparently, very well received among the Punjabi speaking communities throughout the world.
We began this ... to engage the Punjabi and South Asian communities, said Dandiwal.
Policing is about building partnerships with the community and doing everything we can to keep people safe.
We also wanted to dispel police-related stereotypes within the community in order to strengthen our relationship with the Punjabi community.
Both officers are both born and raised in India and, as such, offer a very unique perspective to listeners.
Dandiwal immigrated to Canada in 2001 at the age of 19, completed his honours degree in psychology from Kwantlen and joined the RCMP in 2007.
Sangha immigrated to Canada in 2000 at the age of 20, completed his engineering certification from BCIT, became an auxiliary constable with the Surrey RCMP in 2005 and was sworn in as a regular member in 2008.
The focus of each radio show has been crime prevention with an emphasis on the various programs and initiatives going on at the Richmond detachment.
Topics of discussion have included youth gangs, bullying, identity theft, and pedestrian safety, to name a few.
This initiative is unique to the Richmond RCMP. Nothing like this exists anywhere in the Lower Mainland, said Cpl. Sherrdean Turley, media relations officer for Richmond.
It is, however, indicative of the high level of commitment and dedication that RCMP officers possess across Canada.
