TIMMINS -- Five-year-old Branden Tom is wasting no time getting started on his career plan to become a Timmins police officer.
Branden conducts regular patrols of his street on his battery-operated motorcycle with his mother as his partner.
"It's honestly the joy of my day," said his mom, Emily Peever. "It gives us exercise, it gets (him) off the electronics, he's not watching TV. He's out having fun. The neighbours are super amazing."
Branden is on the lookout for both good and bad people.
"I'm going to arrest people if they're doing bad things," he said.
His own mother doesn't even get let off the hook, proving he's an unbiased officer.
"I definitely can't speed," laughed Peever. "I know a couple times he's like, 'I'm going to arrest you if you speed,' and I'm like, 'I'm not speeding.'"
The Timmins Police Service is thankful to have the back-up and made sure to let Branden know his work is valued.
"Timmins Police fiercely appreciate his efforts and if he's out patrolling, that's one less area for us to take care of," said Marc Depatie, communications co-ordinator for the Timmins Police Service.
Branden's favourite T-shirt is now decorated with Timmins Police Service shoulder patches. He also gets his own 'badge,' which is actually a pin, and a Timmins Police Service cap to wear when he's off duty.
"I can honestly say that for a lot of us, at one point or another, we were in the position he's in right now, so it's kinda' neat to see this," said Const. Trevor Southcott.
When Branden said he learned that sometimes police officers get a bad rap, he asked his mother to contact Timmins Police so he could offer them up some brotherly love. And now he's learned how one good turn deserves another.
