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Decorated police officer steps well beyond the thin blue line

Elana Durtnall established Nora’s Nook in two locations, including neonatal intensive care unit at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie and Wyevale Public School
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Southern Georgian OPP Const. Elana Durtnall goes above and beyond when it comes to helping the community.

Elana Durtnall has only been an OPP officer for six years, but her impact is closely felt by hundreds living throughout the area.

Since joining the Southern Georgian Bay OPP detachment in February 2020 after a transfer from Orillia, the affable Durtnall has played an important role in increasing the police’s presence at 21 schools falling in the detachment’s catchment area by offering community safety programs and providing an approachable, friendly face for students with questions.

But it’s not just while on the job that Durtnall’s devotion to public service is on full display.

She’s also heavily involved in community service away from the badge, helping found the North Simcoe Rotaract club and creating Nora’s Nook in memory of her infant daughter, who passed away in 2018.

“If I’m not doing community-service projects at work, I’m doing community-service projects on my own time,” says Durtnall, who has two sons, one-year-old Henry and three-year-old Theo.

"They keep me on my toes."

Now, her dedication and commitment has been recognized by her peers along with IODE, a Canadian women's charitable organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children, youth and those in need through educational, social service and citizenship programs,

Last month, Durtnall received IODE's Ontario Police Community Relations Award and last Friday travelled to Mississauga for the annual Ontario Women in Law Enforcement Awards gala where she received the organization's community service award.

“I was very excited to be recognized,” says Durtnall, who credits her parents Alison and Dave Durtnall with instilling the concept of community service and volunteerism in her at an early age.

And Durtnall was among some impressive company at the Toronto-area gala, which also saw women receiving years-of-service recognition for their time working in law enforcement with one recipient, Debra Dodds, honoured for her 45 years of service.

Another recipient, Ann Harris, received the inspirational Trailblazer Award. Harris was instrumental in changing the face of policing when she broke down barriers and successfully filed a human rights complaint eliminating the height requirement in policing, which was often discriminatory to women in policing.

"Honestly, I was incredibly surprised," Durtnall says of the two awards and to be in such esteemed company. "I care a lot about community service and I'm not doing it for recognition. The reward is getting the feedback from the community."

But Durtnall seems to be blazing a trail of her own.

A talented athlete who once played for the North Simcoe Capitals, Durtnall is known by her peers as someone who effectively builds trust and confidence in policing with community partners and key stakeholders by successfully immersing herself in the community where she works and resides.

Durtnall was recently described by her immediate supervisor as “one of the most thoughtful officers I have ever worked with. She cares about the people in our community and will always put 110% into anything that she is working on.”

For her part, Durtnall prides herself on breaking down barriers and building trust with local youth while creating opportunities for them to build healthier and more resilient lifestyles by focusing on social inclusion.

In 2017, Durtnall was recognized by the Midland Rotary Club as one of the founding members of a local Rotaract Club, which focuses on bringing people aged eighteen and older together, to share ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and to have fun through service.

She also established Nora’s Nook in two locations, the neonatal intensive care unit at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie and Wyevale Public School, where she grew up. The nooks contain donated books in memory of Elana and her spouse’s one-month old daughter Nora.

But aside from those two projects, Durtnall has also organized a number of community initiatives from food drives for the Georgian Bay Food Network and Rotary Hamper Night to a March Mudness event that raised $100,000 for school programs, a new CT scanner at the local hospital and youth mental health initiatives.

She’s also involved with various youth mental-health initiatives along with the Georgian Bay District Secondary School Equity Club where she serves as a volunteer mentor/LGBT youth role model.

But these are just a few examples of Durtnall’s dedication to helping feed not only the community’s body and soul, but also its overall well-being.

As the IODE noted in recognizing Durtnall: “Elana has demonstrated significant volunteerism by supporting and embracing everyone, especially local youth, to reach their fullest potential and by advocating for equity, diversity, and inclusion, regardless of the challenges they are facing.”


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Andrew Philips

About the Author: Andrew Philips

Editor Andrew Philips is a multiple award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in some of the country’s most respected news outlets. Originally from Midland, Philips returned to the area from Québec City a decade ago.
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