Behind the Badge – Const. Kyle Grant

When Kyle Grant enrolled at the University of Guelph, he was all about numbers. He completed a bachelor’s degree in management economics and then a master’s degree in economics.

But while working through his master’s “I sort of realized a straight office job just wasn’t for me. I’d always been interested in math, but I wasn’t interested in working in an office all day.”

At the time Grant was a member of the varsity wrestling team at the U of G. Since-retired Guelph Police Sergeant Doug Pflug was the team’s strength and conditioning coach “so I started talking to him about policing and it was really appealing to me,” Grant said. “I liked the idea of no two days being alike and you get to be out and about helping the community, so I decided to apply.” He was hired in 2011.

“I remember doing the Values, Influences and Peers program in Grade 6, but that might have been my only involvement with police until I met Sgt. Pflug. It just wasn’t on my mind at all to get into this.”

He grew up in Whitby where both of his parents were high school teachers and then principals. He returned home for the summer after his first year of university, but then put down roots in Guelph.

“I guess I’m one of those typical stories of someone who came to the U of G and just fell in love with the community and didn’t want to leave,” Grant said, adding he also fell in love with a local girl while attending university, which cemented his decision to stay here.

He and his wife Lauren married in 2012 and have a three-year-old daughter and eight-month-old son. His wife is a professor at the University of Guelph.

Following his university career, Grant continued training with the Guelph Wrestling Club and worked with the varsity club. In 2010 Grant represented Canada at the World University Championship in Italy, and in 2016 had the opportunity to travel to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the training partner to Olympian Korey Jarvis.

“That was obviously a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m so glad he chose me to go with him.”

During his time with the Guelph Police Service, Grant has occupied several roles. During his time as a high school resource officer he recognized his love of working with young people. He went on to become the VIP (Values, Influences and Peers) officer and also overseeing the Youth In Policing Initiative (YIPI) program each summer. Grant was formerly the media officer and is currently a community resource officer, where he works one-on-one with vulnerable citizens.

“I like that I have a lot of proactive, positive interactions in this role rather than some of the reactive situations you see in frontline patrol,” Grant said. “I have the ability to curb future calls for service by helping people with safety tips and providing them advice before they get into a bad situation.”

While policing wasn’t on his radar growing up, Grant said he now can’t imagine doing anything else.

“I feel very lucky the way everything worked out.”

Behind the Badge is a regular series of profiles of Guelph Police Service members.