Twenty-one new police officers will hit the streets of Durham Region after a graduation ceremony in Whitby, Ontario on May 21, 2026. Family and friends filled the room as the Durham Regional Police Service swore in the recruits, who will soon start field training in communities including Ajax and Pickering.
Chief Peter Moreira led the ceremony, handing each graduate their badge. The recruits had already received a challenge coin engraved with the Oath of Office prior to the ceremony. He told the new constables that their badges represent community trust above all else. “That trust is the foundation of effective policing,” Moreira said. “Guard it fiercely.”
Constable Kylie Ferguson addressed the class as valedictorian. Her peers also voted to give her the Allan D. Christiansen Memorial Award, which honours leadership, a positive attitude, physical fitness, and a commitment to volunteering. The award is named for a Durham officer killed years ago in a crash while returning from his own police college graduation.
The DRPS Pipes and Drums and the DRPS Choir performed as the new officers celebrated with loved ones. Now the graduates will pair up with coach officers for months of frontline learning across different shifts and platoons. Some are expected to join West Division, which handles calls in Ajax and Pickering from its station at 1710 Kingston Road East in Pickering.
West Division serves more than 235,000 people in the two fast-growing communities. The new officers will help cover rising demand as the area continues to expand.
