Ten Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers were acknowledged today for removing impaired drivers from our roadways.

MADD Canada hosted the annual Team Nick Coates Awards recognizing police officers for their efforts to detect and apprehend impaired drivers. The award is named in honour of Nick Coates, who was killed by an impaired driver in August of 2013.

Officers who have taken a minimum of 12 impaired drivers off the roads during the previous year receive the Gold Award. Officers who have taken at least eight impaired drivers off the road during the previous year receive the Silver Award.

The RNC congratulates the following officers for their dedication to increasing safety in our communities:

Gold

• Cst. Neil Gibbons, 12 arrests
• Cst. Kyle Morrissey, 12 arrests
• Cst. Michael Burton, 14 arrests
• Cst. Geoff Heffernan, 15 arrests
• Cst. Aaron T. White, 19 arrests

Silver

• Cst. Evan Bennett, eight arrests
• Cst. Michael Carter, eight arrests
• Cst. Deirdre Halliday, nine arrests
• Cst. Michael Shea, nine arrests
• Cst. Shane McClafferty, 11 arrests

Cst. Aaron T. White was additionally recognized as a Top Performer.

In 2024, there were over 2,800 calls for service related to impaired driving which resulted in almost 700 associated police interventions in RNC jurisdictions alone.