Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
Sergeant Chantal Larocque of the Anishinabek Police Service was thrilled when she got the news that the APS’ new cruiser had won first place in Blue Line’s Best Dressed Police Vehicle Awards. On December 10th, Blue Line Magazine, a Canadian law enforcement magazine, published the winners of the 2026 competition, with the APS’ new interactive vehicle taking the Best Dressed Community Relations vehicle title. The SUV, which Larocque had submitted to the competition in November, features a scavenger hunt for Indigenous items hidden throughout the wrap. This interactive element is what Larocque believes put the APS submission ahead of the competition.
“Community engagement is about building a relationship, because if you can’t build a relationship with a community, how can you expect to effectively police it?” Larocque asks. She explains that the new vehicle is a tool to spark that contact, getting people to interact with the police in a positive manner and creating a sense of safety around the APS. It is also a recruitment vehicle, she explains, pointing out that positivity and visibility for the APS will drive interest in potential applicants as well. For all those reasons, Larocque says that it was obvious that this cruiser belonged in the Community Relations category when Blue Line opened the 2026 competition.
Based on feedback from the person she spoke with at Blue Line, Larocque says that this year had the most submissions ever received for the Community Relations category. She’s not sure what criteria the judges used, but she believes that the interactive aspect of the APS cruiser made the difference. “It’s clear that the interactive piece put us over the top because there’s no other vehicle that has done that,” she asserts, adding that they had hoped for a top 3 win, but “winning first was just icing on the cake.”
