David “Dave” Nelson Long
Served 1973-2006
Dave Long began his police career as a Cadet with The Saltfleet Police Department in 1973. On June 17th of that year, he was vacationing at Sauble Beach. While on the beach, he saw a man canoeing in about 10’ of rough water. The man eventually lost control and fell out of the canoe. Dave swam out to the man, located him under water and dragged him back into shore where he recovered. The victim was a medical doctor from Victoria Hospital in London, ON. The Ontario Provincial Police and an Ambulance arrived minutes later, where they checked the victim over and found him to be in good condition. Dave, however, went into shock and was transported to the Southampton General Hospital where he was released within two hours. He received a Chief’s commendation for his actions.
The Saltfleet Police were amalgamated
with the Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police
where Dave continued with his duties
and in fact became a Sergeant.
Here is a picture of Dave and his own daughter Jennifer
with the fire victim, Thomas Collins in 1993 at the award ceremony.
Later in his career Dave became a member of the Hamilton Police Honour Guard which requires a lot of personal time and training. He was also a recipient of the:
* Chief Leonard G Lawrence Award (1993),
* Police Exemplary Medal (1994 & 2004),
* Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire – I.O.D.E (1994),
* Gordon V. Torrance Award (1998 and 2000).
Dave continued in his career with different postings in the Drug Squad and Divisional Detectives Squad.