Sudbury police constable nominated for mental health advocacy award

A northern Ont. police officer is in the running for a provincial award for his mental health advocacy. Ryan Hutton, a 25-year veteran, is nominated by the POA.

A police constable from Sudbury has been nominated for a provincial award in recognition of his mental health advocacy.

Const. Ryan Hutton is nominated for one of five Hero of the Year Awards distributed by the Police Association of Ontario.

Hutton said he is humbled by the nomination.

“It’s not something that I think anybody with this kind of mindset is doing for recognition,” he said.

“It’s just because there’s a need for it and the awareness part and being there for your colleagues and your friends and the public is really all the recognition that any of us are ever looking for.”

Hutton has been in policing for 25 years, but said it was only in the last 10 that his colleagues began talking about mental health.

“I’ve seen a lot -- I’ve grown up a lot in the role as a police officer,” he said.

“I’ve been a part of numerous units where mental health was not at the forefront and it wasn’t the priority. I’ve seen guys and girls (who have had) to leave units because of it, and I’ve seen them have to leave policing altogether. And that’s not OK.”

Hutton said he’s seen numerous colleagues go on mental health leave and feel the need to keep it a secret.

That attitude has shifted with increased mental health awareness.

“At the time, nobody talked about it,” he said.

More openness about mental health

“So now what’s happening is, you know, officers are going off and they’re being open about why they’re going off. And they’re coming back, and talking openly about why they were off.”

Hutton has been involved in numerous mental health initiatives. He’s a recent addition to the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response team and he’s been involved in local charity efforts, including the Ride for Mental Health and Wounded Warriors.

He also led a team for the Canadian Mental Health Association’s push-up challenge, which raises awareness and funds for first responder PTSD.

“All of these initiatives are getting more people involved on a regular basis,” Hutton said.

“The walk, the pushup challenge, the plank challenge that we did, the Ride for Mental Health, the Memorial Ride -- all of these things are just making everybody aware and just kind of normalizing and humanizing everything.”

Extraordinary acts of bravery

Mark Baxter, president of the Police Association of Ontario, said there have been 160 nominations in Ontario, including 30 from northern Ontario.

“These are people who show extraordinary acts of bravery, offer kindness or dedicate years to supporting others and to supporting their community,” Baxter said.

“Folks don’t sign up to do this job to receive recognition, but we know that they make an incredible impact on their community, on their colleagues. And so it’s really important that we recognize them.”

Hutton said his nomination continues the conversation regarding mental health amongst first responders.

“The more we talk about it, the more we can help people learn how to be resilient and the more we can get ahead of it (and) the better off everyone’s going to be,” he said.

“We often talk about physical fitness, keeping yourself ready and fit for the job. We have to do that. That’s a very hands-on approach. But we also have to be mentally fit, right?”

Nominations for the awards have since closed. Baxter said the committee will be meeting sometime over the next few weeks to select the winners.

He said the winners and their families will be invited to the award ceremony in Windsor at the end of May.