Nominate Detective Helen Grus for Police Hero of the Year!

Police Association of Ontario Awards – Nominations Deadline March 17, 2024

If there is one Police Officer in Ontario who deserves the Hero of the Year Award, it is Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus.

As of Monday, March 4, 2024 about 45 police officers have been nominated so far across the five award categories. The vast majority (if not all) of the nominations are submitted by a single nominator about their positive experience with the officer they nominated. This ‘single nominator per nominee’ has been the reality since the inception of the awards in 2016.

It would be unprecedented in the history of the awards if several hundred Canadians each separately nominated Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus for the ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’ Category.

This article contains the information you need to create and submit a credible nomination for Detective Grus according to the rules and eligibility criteria of the Police Association of Ontario.

I submitted my nomination for Detective Grus via email on Sunday, March 3, 2024. My seven-page submission, covering email, and photo of Detective Grus are attached to this article.

Feel free to entirely write your own submission from scratch, to adopt any part of my work in your submission, or to write a short nomination stating that you agree with my nomination and attaching my nomination as supporting information to your nomination.

Understand and Adhere to the Nomination Rules!

Obviously it is better to compose your nomination for Detective Grus entirely in your own words – and as we see from past awards even a paragraph or two can be enough to convince the judges to make an award.

You must, however, adhere to the nomination rules of the Hero of the Year Awards. I’ve listed them in this article as best as I can – so take the time to get it right and you’ll make a difference.

Let’s Keep Track of How Many People Nominate Detective Grus

There are several methods of submitting your nomination:

• Through an online form: https://www.policehero.ca/form
• emailed to [email protected],
• via Direct Message on PAO’s Twitter-X: https://twitter.com/PoliceAssocON
• via Direct Message on PAO’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoliceAssociationofOntario/

I’ll provide more details and my recommendations below, but however you choose to submit your nomination please email me a copy of your nomination and whatever submission receipt you obtain – to [email protected]

If even fifty people nominate Detective Grus and she does not receive an award – that will be a huge news story that several journalists and respected news organizations have already indicated they will cover.

But let’s also have faith in the PAO Award Judges because as you will see when you read my nomination, any police officer would favour nominations for Detective Grus.

Who Can Nominate Detective Grus?

Nominations must come from members of the public – police personnel (officers and civilians) cannot nominate each other for these awards.

Other than the restriction on active police personnel – anyone can nominate Detective Grus for the PAO Award. You don’t have to be a Canadian citizen or resident, you don’t have to live in Ontario or Canada. The rules make no residency conditions for nominators and this is typical because tourists (even from other countries) often nominate police officers for these types of awards.

You MUST include your real name, address, contact information etc sufficient to show that you are a real person, and to provide the Awards Judges with a method of contacting you.

Award Categories

The five award categories can be found here: How It Works

The only suitable category for Detective Grus is: Police Hero Honour Roll Award

“The ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’ pays homage to a police officer or civilian police service employee who has made a significant impact over the past decade.”

Your nomination MUST clearly state the category of award you are nominating Detective Grus for – so don’t forget!   Police Hero Honour Roll Award

Need To Know and Tips

Nomination Methods

The PAO PoliceHero.ca website states that nominations can be made using the “online nomination form, email, Facebook Direct Message, or Twitter Direct Message.”

There are pros and cons to each method because some provide no immediate receipt of a submission – or provide an immediate receipt but no record of the words and supporting documents submitted.

No matter which method you use to nominate Detective Grus (or any other police officer) – I advise you to compose it in Word or some other offline editor, save it, and THEN copy and paste or attach it to the nomination. You can also capture a screenshot of your submission and keep it as proof.

Not providing your true name and contact details invalidates your nomination.

Many have complained to me that they received no acknowledgement or receipt for an emailed nomination – but received an acknowledgement for an online nomination with no copy of what they posted.

Screen shots would seem to be an answer to record what you’ve done online. I use FireShot on Windows and Mac, and MovAVI Screen Recorder and the built-in ‘screenshot’ app on the Mac. Windows also has the ‘Snipping Tool’ built in.

Do It Correctly – Make Your Nomination Count!

There are rules about nominating officers for the PAO Hero of the Year Awards. Your ‘nomination’ accomplishes nothing if you only go to Twitter or Facebook and say “I nominate Helen Grus” – because your ‘nomination’ doesn’t meet the basic criteria laid out at the PAO website.

Already I see many ‘public nominations’ made as comments on the PAO Twitter-X account that will be thrown out because nominations using Twitter-X or Facebook must be submitted via Direct Message – not merely a public posting or comment. ADHERE TO THE RULES!

Checklist for Nominations

• You must use one of the approved methods of submitting your nomination:
  • Through an online form: https://www.policehero.ca/form
  • emailed to: [email protected],
  • via Direct Message on PAO’s Twitter-X: https://twitter.com/PoliceAssocON
  • via Direct Message on PAO’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoliceAssociationofOntario/
• Deadline: Nominations must be submitted by end of day Sunday, March 17, 2024 (Eastern Time – Ottawa) PUT A DATE ON YOUR NOMINATION!
• You must use your real name, address, and contact information. The online submission form requires a minimum of your first and last name, phone number, email, and postal code. Assume other nomination methods must include at least this information at a minimum.
• You must provide Detective Helen Grus’ First and Last Name (Helen Grus), state that she serves with the Ottawa Police Service, and that she is a ‘Uniform / Sworn Officer’ (ie: a sworn police officer – not a civilian employee)
• You must state which award category you are nominating Detective Grus for – which is recommended to be ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.
• Submissions must include a written or verbal description as to why your nominee should be considered for the Police Association of Ontario Police Services Hero of the Year award. (In my nomination – attached – I first described Detective Grus’ career accomplishments that pre-date the Covid vaccine mandates, and then a following section on her more recent accomplishments.)
• You should agree to and include this phrase: ‘By submitting this nomination I consent to the Police Association of Ontario posting all or part of my nomination including photography publicly on their platforms. I also consent to being contacted to provide more details.’
• You should declare that YOU are not a serving police officer, or employee of a Police Service.
• If using email, Twitter-X, or Facebook, you should politely request acknowledgement that your nomination has been received. The online form provides an instant acknowledgement but no record of what was received. (I have not yet received an acknowledgement of my emailed March 3, 2024 nomination and so will send a follow-up email.)
• Submissions can include a photo of Detective Helen Grus if you have one. The below Public Domain Photo of Detective Grus was taken by me. I placed it into the public domain and give permission for you to provide it with your nomination of Detective Helen Grus.

Example Nomination for Detective Grus

Nomination Submitted by Donald Best (pdf format): PAO 2024 Nomination Detective Helen Grus Hero of the Year Award_Redacted

Covering Email (pdf format): 20240303 Grus Nomination email_Redacted

Public Domain Photo: (click for large size for downloading)

Text of Donald Best’s Covering email

From: Donald Best (email redacted)
To: [email protected]
Date Sunday, March 3rd, 2024 at 6:30 AM

Subject: Nomination: Constable Helen Grus – Ottawa Police

Dear Police Association of Ontario,

Attached please find a pdf document that is my nomination of Ottawa Police Constable (Detective) Helen Grus for the 2024 ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’, as well as a photo of Detective Grus that I took myself and placed into the public domain.

I am a member of the public and NOT a police officer.

By submitting this nomination I consent to the Police Association of Ontario posting all or part of my nomination including photography publicly on their platforms. I also consent to being contacted (by email please) to provide more details.

Please acknowledge the receipt of this emailed nomination.

Donald Best

 

Text of Donald Best’s Nomination

 

Donald Best

(Address Redacted)

(Email Redacted)

March 3, 2024

Police Association of Ontario

Via email: [email protected]

 

Nomination: Police Services Hero of the Year Award

Nominee: Ottawa Police Service Constable (Detective) Helen Grus

Category: Police Hero Honour Roll Award

 

I, Donald Best, nominate Ottawa Police Constable (Detective) Helen Grus for the Police Association of Ontario ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.

Detective Grus (Badge #1631) is now assigned to the Robbery Squad. In each posting throughout her 21-year career Helen Grus has shown exceptional dedication and diligence in her duties, as well as outstanding leadership qualities and commitment to the community. Detective Grus has been praised for her concern for victims that “exceeds all expectations”. She is “a revered investigator” – all of which her supervisors noted in her annual performance reviews to 2021. (The last annual review that is publicly available). (1)

In 2016, Detective Grus was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit (SACA). Her 2021 performance review reads in part:

“Detective Grus is a dedicated employee who puts her victims’ needs above herself. Detective Grus is well-versed in her role as an investigator in SACA. Being one of the most senior officers in the unit, Detective Grus is a wealth of knowledge and does not hesitate to assist or provide guidance to others…

Detective Grus is a revered investigator in SACA, and has a large resume of experience. I would encourage Detective Grus to use these abilities and knowledge to pursue a promotion and/or other career aspirations. SACA is lucky to have such a skilled interviewer and investigator…

Detective Grus also volunteers to assist with adult pre-charge diversion program, due to extensive experience in this realm. She dedicates a lot of her own time for this cause and maintains great contacts with our stakeholders in the community to assist with that liaison between us and our community partners…

Detective Grus does not hesitate to volunteer for new files, as well as complex ones, and Detective Grus works well in a team and demonstrates her abilities on a daily basis. Detective Grus was assigned some stranger sexual assaults of sex trade workers and collaborated with other Detectives to establish possible connections between their assigned files…

Detective Grus is very personable and works with a smile…. Detective Grus makes our clients really comfortable with the process, as well as with our organization as a whole…

Detective Grus is well respected amongst her peers in SACA for her knowledge and abilities. She continues to mentor junior officers and does not hesitate to break away from her files to assist with others…

Detective Grus has a huge sense of team working towards a similar goal to provide the best service we can for our clients… Detective Grus is self-sufficient and does not require close supervision…” (2)

As one example of the hundreds of investigations that Detective Grus self-initiated during her career – in 2017 Detective Grus initiated an investigation into an unsolved historical sex assault upon a child.

Like all Canadian police officers Detective Grus was and is authorized by law and her Oath of Office to self-initiate any investigation without notifying her supervisors or seeking their permission or direction. This is because Canada empowers each police officer to act with powerful self-autonomy compared with many other countries – to ensure that police officers and their investigations are protected from political influence and corruption.

In the 2017 case, Detective Grus examined confidential police files and began to suspect and gather evidence against Timothy Sample, a 56-year-old Personal Support Worker.

As a direct result of Detective Grus’s initiative, diligence, and exceptional investigative and interviewing skills, Timothy Sample was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl over a four-year period starting when she was 8 years old. The details of the case and Detective Grus’ role were published in the Ottawa Citizen June 6, 2019 article ‘PSW monster jailed for another child-sex crime’. (3)

The above is more than sufficient reason for the Police Association of Ontario to honour Detective Helen Grus with the 2024 ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.

There are, however, additional circumstances to further show that Detective Helen Grus acts with professional and personal integrity, with diligence, with moral courage, and with a firm commitment to her duty and her Police Oath of Office.

Detective Grus is currently defending against an internal disciplinary charge of ‘Discreditable Conduct’ for “initiating an unauthorized criminal investigation” into a cluster of unexplained infant deaths in the Ottawa area. She is charged with self-initiating an investigation – exactly as she did and was praised for in the 2017 Timothy Sample case.

Detective Grus’s current circumstances are critical to policing in Canada because the final outcome will determine whether or not individual Canadian Police Officers have the authority and duty to self-initiate investigations – or whether they must first seek permission and political approval.

Like every other Canadian Police Officer with two decades of service, Detective Grus has self-initiated hundreds of major and minor investigations during her career – without first seeking permission or notifying other officers.

The difference this time is that the cluster of sudden, unexplained infant deaths is a political hotcake, where Public Health Agency of Canada personnel are proven to have contacted and influenced the Ottawa Police – first during the internal investigation into Detective Grus, and again after Professional Standards charged Detective Grus and she was appearing before a Tribunal. (4)

As Detective Grus defends against the politically motivated charge, she also defends the right and duty of every Canadian police officer to self-initiate investigations without first seeking permission or having to bend to political influences.

Because of her commitment to her Oath of Office and Duty, for the past two years Detective Grus and her family members have been subject to acts of intimidation, and to financial and professional sanctions. In January 2024, the intimidation ramped up to include written criminal threats to Detective Grus from a senior police officer. The written threats were intended to stop Detective Grus from testifying and providing documents in her defence against the charge. The documents were likely to reveal the corruption and bullying that she has been subjected to by senior officers. (7, 8)

Despite over two years of intimidation and sanctions, Detective Helen Grus continues to defend the right and duty of every Canadian Police Officer to do their duty and uphold their oath of office without political interference.

The fact that Detective Helen Grus continues to work despite the disciplinary charge is testimony to her leadership, her incredible honour in her work, and demonstrates that the Ottawa Police Service truly values Detective Helen Grus’ contribution to policing the community.

The detailed circumstances of the charge against Detective Grus are as follows:

In early 2022, police officers in the SACA unit noticed a tripling in baby deaths which was unusual. Also unusual was that two babies had died in their mother’s arms, and another died with an enlarged heart. (5)

Like any good police officer, Detective Helen Grus started looking into the circumstances of the recent sudden infant deaths and started asking questions about whether or not the Covid-19 vaccination, being the only major variable, might be a cause.

Medical research indicated that there may be a correlation which raised a concern for public safety and so Detective Helen Grus started preparing a package to inform her chain of command. Detective Grus even called Sergeant Major Peter Danyluk of the Chief’s Office to ask if that was acceptable. She contacted Danyluk because Detective Helen Grus had been ordered in September 2021 by her immediate lower chain of command (Sergeant and Staff Sergeant) not to talk about anything in relation to covid-19, including mandates and vaccinations. (6)

On January 30, 2022, Detective Grus called the father of one of the deceased infants to inquire about the Covid-19 vaccine status of the mother.

Sworn evidence presented before an Ottawa Police Tribunal in August 2023 and January 2024 showed that the call was appreciated and cordial.

During further sworn testimony, a family member of one of the deceased infants described Detective Grus as “One of the most caring, dedicated police officers I’ve known. She’s always willing to help, willing to hear your story… she is there, she wants to help victims, she wants to help people and I believe that the police departments all over the country need more police officers like her.”

On February 4, 2022, Detective Grus was suspended for allegedly printing out a coroner’s report and for looking in the police files of sudden infant deaths. This suspension was based on a charge of insubordination and specifically for allegedly breaching an internal policy on the use of a police database of records which cannot be used for personal reasons.

The charge was later dropped as there was no evidence against Detective Grus because she was in fact, simply doing her job. During the cross-examination of prosecution witness Detective Renee Stewart at the Tribunal against Detective Grus, it was discovered that the whole printing of the coroner’s report was in fact a rumour and a total fabrication used to support the immediate suspension of Detective Grus. No one knew about the phone call to the father at that time.

In mid-March 2022, multiple unknown Ottawa Police Officers secretly and unofficially contacted CBC journalist Shaamini Yogaretnam and unlawfully provided her with confidential police information concerning the internal investigation against Detective Grus.

For reasons unknown, Yogaretnam and the CBC then issued an ultimatum to the Ottawa Police that the police had only 24 hours to inform the parents of the sudden infant deaths that Detective Grus had looked into.

The Tribunal against Detective Grus heard evidence that police officers from the Professional Standards Unit called nine families on March 25, 2022 to inform them that Detective Grus had committed a privacy breach – when in fact she had not. All this information was extremely sensitive, confidential, and subject to the Oath of Secrecy per the Police Services Act.

It is evident that the police officers involved in leaking the information to the CBC were working with CBC to defame Detective Grus, to ruin her reputation publicly, and to fabricate evidence for a discreditable conduct charge.

On March 28, 2022 and March 31, 2022, Yogaretnam and the CBC published two articles and broadcast a radio show about Detective Helen Grus – shamelessly defaming an outstanding police officer of the Ottawa Police Service, interfering with an internal police investigation, upsetting families who lost their infants, and breaching the sacred oath of confidentiality.

The Ottawa Police Professional Standards Unit refused Detective Grus’s written demand to launch a criminal investigation to determine the identities of the rogue officers who unlawfully provided confidential police information to the CBC. Instead, the Professional Standards Unit blamed Detective Grus for the embarrassment to the Ottawa Police and went on to charge Detective Grus with discreditable conduct “for bringing the reputation of the Ottawa Police Service into disrepute.” (2)

On May 12, 2022, Professional Standards investigators formally interviewed Detective Grus in a ‘compelled interview’. During the recorded interview (which was publicly played at the ongoing Tribunal Disciplinary Hearing), Detective Grus provided the Professional Standards investigators with documented evidence, including clinical studies on the Covid-19 vaccinations.

The clinical reports included some of the ‘Pfizer Documents’ that showed Pfizer knew that the experimental mRNA COVID vaccinations killed and injured babies in the womb – and the fact that the clinical trials did not include testing on pregnant and breastfeeding women as clinical subjects, it just so happened that some of the clinical subjects were pregnant at the time, and all those that the researchers followed up with had lost their babies after taking the Covid-19 vaccination. (2)

Other evidence included an affidavit of an Expert Witness Medical Doctor about the dangers to breastfeeding infants of mRNA injected mothers.

In her interview, Detective Grus mentioned that she believed that there were reasonable and probable grounds of criminality, as these clinical studies were provided to Public Health Agency Canada, and yet PHAC went on to state that the Covid-19 vaccinations were safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, contrary to the data indicating that they were in fact potentially lethal. (2)

The Professional Standards officers who received this criminal investigation file and evidence did not initiate an investigation and are in Neglect of Duty under the Police Services Act of Ontario – in my professional opinion as a former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective). This neglect is just another indication of the political motivation for the charge against Detective Grus.

At the outset of the May 12, 2022 compelled interview, the investigator stated that the Professional Standards Unit was looking into charging Detective Grus with discreditable conduct because of the CBC articles. It was only during this interview, that Detective Grus mentioned that she made the phone call to the one father on January 30, 2022. Two months later, in June 2022, the PSU decided to charge Detective Grus with discreditable conduct for the purported reasons that she made a phone call to the father and that she was interfering with another lead investigator’s case as well as undertaking an “unauthorised investigation” when she looked into sudden infant death files.

The Ottawa Police Association (the Police Union) refuses to cover the costs of the legal defense for Detective Grus, and so she has been forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to date for legal counsel to defend her right and duty to preserve life.

It is clear from the evidence presented at the Tribunal thus far, that Detective Grus is being vilified and punished for asking difficult questions, and for looking into the criminal occurrence of the decision to mandate the Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women when it was not safe to do so – and has possibly contributed to the deaths of infants.

The charge against Detective Grus is also intended to deter her and other police officers from initiating criminal investigations into the manufacture, testing, approval, procurement, and mandating of the experimental mRNA COVID vaccinations – including deterring investigations into any potential injuries and deaths.

In October 2022, the Ottawa Police ordered Detective Grus to report to the Robbery Squad to work, but with conditions to stay away from the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit. Detective Grus continues to fulfill her duties and oath of office with dedication and diligence.

Even though Detective Helen Grus faces an ongoing legal battle that is politically motivated, she maintains her loyalty and dedication to her profession and to the Ottawa Police Service.

Detective Grus has provided exemplary service, has exceeded expectations on all of her performance reports, is due for promotion to Sergeant, and has shown valour and dedication to the Ottawa Police, to the community, and to preserving life.

Detective Helen Grus is an outstanding police officer and is surely worthy of the Police Association of Ontario ‘Police Hero Honour Roll Award’.

Yours truly,

Donald Best

 

Sources

1, 2, 5, 6 – Transcripts of the Ottawa Police Tribunal against Detective Helen Grus

3 – Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2019 – PSW ‘monster’ jailed for another child-sex crime

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0607-sample

4 – DonaldBest.ca, April 27, 2023 – Public Health Agency of Canada Personnel Influenced Ottawa Police Investigation and Charge against Detective Grus

https://donaldbest.ca/public-health-agency-of-canada-personnel-influenced-ottawa-police-investigation-and-charge-against-detective-grus/

7 – The Epoch Times, January 11, 2024 – Chaos Erupts at Hearing of Ottawa Detective as Lawyers File Report Accusing Superior of Witness Intimidation

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/chaos-erupts-in-hearing-of-ottawa-detective-as-lawyers-file-police-report-on-head-of-professional-standards-unit-5563628

8 – The Epoch Times, January 10, 2024 – Lawyers Accuse Officer of Witness Tampering, Intimidation of Detective Who Looked Into COVID Vaccine, Child Deaths

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/lawyers-accuse-officer-of-witness-tampering-intimidation-of-detective-who-looked-into-covid-vaccine-child-deaths-5562716