Kevin Webb isn’t the type of person who goes looking for recognition of his efforts, but his dedication as a police officer may very well earn him some well-deserved kudos, said his family.
Webb has been nominated for the Police Services Hero of the Year award, and is one of dozens of nominees for this year’s award.
Webb began his career as a police officer in 1985, joining the Elliot Lake Police Department as a constable. Throughout his years in Elliot Lake, he held several different positions such as patrol officer, then a detective with the Criminal Investigations Branch. During that time, he was an associate member of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario.
In 1998, he joined the Ontario Provincial Police in Espanola as a patrol officer, detective in the Sudbury crime unit and then later a patrol sergeant. He was also a trained crisis negotiator.
In 2011, he was promoted to staff sergeant detachment commander of the Manitoulin OPP branch.
In 2013 he worked in the role as a critical incident commander for the province of Ontario.
In 2018, he took over as detachment commander for the Sudbury OPP detachment before becoming operations manager for the newly formed West Nipissing detachment while continuing his role as a critical incident commander of the province up until his retirement in May 2021.
“I believe this nominee deserves to win the Police Services Hero of the Year award due to absolute dedication to the job,” said one of his daughters, Kathryn Webb, in an email to Sudbury.com. “Kevin Webb did not wear the badge for a sense of power; he wore it to make a difference in the community, to protect members of the community, and ultimately demonstrate the real meaning of policing.”
One of the many hats Webb wore during his time as a police officer was a dad. When Webb wasn’t “fighting the bad guys,” he still made sure he was there to support and love his family, she said.
His oldest daughter, Beverley, said having a police officer as a father was not always easy. Alongside his wife, Mary, they raised five children. He is also the grandfather of six, with another on her way.
“Growing up as a police officer’s child, we all held a high sense of pride and respect for officers of the law, in particular our father,” said Beverley. “We knew when he was called out that someone needed him more than we did. Our mother, who is the rock of our family, held down the Fort during those times. We are all very, very grateful for both of our parents.”
She said her father never expected awards, although he has received many of them in his career.
“His ultimate award was doing his job to the best of his ability and ensuring the public was kept safe and educated,” she said. “He always wanted to make sure that everyone went home every night, as we always kept the faith that our dad would come home just the same.”
The nominations for Police Services Hero of the Year Awards will be vetted in April and finalists will be selected. Those finalists will be whittled down to the eventual winners, who will be announced in June
