On Saturday, March 21, 2015, Constable John Hicks received the Community Service/Humanitarian Award from the Chatham Municipal I.O.D. E. Chapter.
Constable Hicks is now in his 26th year of policing.
He began his career with the Wallaceburg Police Service in November 1990 and has worked in numerous areas of policing including General Patrol, Mental Health Interdiction (HELP Team) and the Criminal Investigation Bureau, which included investigating crimes of fraud, arsons, offences against children, robberies and homicides.
John has served two Peacekeeping Tours for the United Nations overseas where he served with distinction in Cyprus from 1989-1990 and in the War Crimes Investigation Unit in Kosovo from 2001-2002.
Constable Hicks has always had a heart and passion for helping the citizens of our community.
He has played an active part in various outreach programs for the less fortunate within Chatham-Kent for his entire adult life.
In addition to his 26 years of active police service, John has dedicated countless volunteer hours to various organizations and causes, including the Canadian Cancer Society, Tim Horton Camp Days, Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Outreach for Hunger, Teen Challenge Farm (an addiction recovery program for young men) and Eastside Pride, where he has hosted numerous Christmas lunches and various soup kitchens within our Municipality.
John is well known in Chatham-Kent for his eagerness and desire to help wherever the need is present.
He routinely donates his personal finances and time to help others around him.
John’s benevolent character is not only exhibited with our Municipality but goes beyond our borders as well.
John has participated in Missionary work in Honduras and India through Praise Fellowship Church, assisting unwed mothers become more self-sufficient through fund-raising efforts and building project, providing education and shelter for them and their children, and in meeting the needs of orphaned children, widows, and lepers through food-aid programs and medication distribution.
The central focus of these missions is to provide love, compassion and basic necessities to often neglected and forgotten people.
Constable John Hicks is a model of exemplary public service and human kindness.
His devotion to others and his selflessness truly illustrates his remarkable character.
