OACP Honours Deputy Chief Warren Burger (Ret.) with 2026 President’s Award of Merit

Media Release

Ontario’s Police Leaders Honour Deputy Chief Warren Burger (Ret.) with 2026 OACP President’s Award of Merit

For Immediate Release: June 4, 2026

(Niagara, ON) – The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) is proud to award Deputy Chief Warren Burger (Ret.) the 2026 OACP President’s Award of Merit – the highest honour conferred by the OACP.

Ontario’s police leaders honoured Deputy Chief Burger at the OACP’s 2026 Annual Conference held in Niagara, ON, on May 31 to June 3, 2026. He was recognized for his outstanding contributions to policing and the OACP over more than five decades of dedicated service.

Born in Hagersville and raised in Hamilton, Deputy Chief Burger returned to Hagersville to begin his policing career. When the Haldimand-Norfolk Regional Police Force was created, he joined the new organization as a Sergeant and steadily rose through the ranks to become Acting Chief. Notably, he was the last serving member of the Haldiman-Norfolk Regional Police, overseeing the dissolution of the organization. 

For more than 50 years, OACP Annual Conferences were managed by a host police service. Over time, organizing the conference became an increasingly significant undertaking for many police services, resulting in hesitation among services to commit to serving as hosts. Recognizing this challenge, Deputy Chief Burger stepped forward to recruit police services to host the Annual Conference. Through his outgoing personality, enthusiasm, and exceptional relationship-building skills, he travelled across Ontario inspiring police organizations to participate.

More recently, Deputy Chief Burger serves as the Chair of the OACP Life Members Advisory Council, helping to guide executive members on matters affecting the ever-increasing corps of life members. Additionally, he is an active member of the OACP Awards Committee, where he has served for nearly two decades.

Throughout his longstanding involvement with the OACP, Deputy Chief Burger has consistently welcomed new members and promoted the fellowship and collaboration that defines the association. He has always been among the first to answer the call whenever the OACP has required assistance and has been doing so for 54 years. He embodies the spirit of the OACP in continuing to inspire police leaders to support one another, strive for excellence, and become stronger leaders across the policing profession.    

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For more information, contact: 

Dr. José Luís (Joe) Couto

Director of Strategic Initiatives, Research, and Corporate Communications

C. (416) 919-9798

E. media@oacp.ca

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The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is the Voice of Ontario’s Police Leaders

Members of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police serve their communities as the senior police leaders in municipal, regional, provincial, national, and Indigenous police services across Ontario