From a young age, Fiore knew that he wanted to be a police officer. He attended John F. Kennedy High School and later studied general arts at Loyola College, taking courses geared toward police work like psychology, sociology and economics. During his studies at Loyola College, he worked as a Canadian Grenadier. For two summers, he worked on Parliament Hill in the changing of the guard. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Fiore applied to both the Montreal and then Ottawa-Carleton police forces. He was accepted in both forces but chose to come to Ottawa in 1974.

Like many Ottawa Italians, Fiore expresses gratitude to St. Anthony’s Church, the cornerstone of the Preston Street area, for helping him to get settled.

“When I first came to Ottawa, I was looking for a residence,” he says. “I didn’t know anyone so I went to St. Anthony’s parish. The first person I met there was Peter Scott. Peter was able to find me a small apartment in the area.”

Fiore started with the police force at the age of 20. He started off doing administrative work since the minimum age required to be an officer was 21. When he turned 21, he was put on street patrol for eight months before heading to police college.

“Back then, you started out with local training for one month and then you spent three months at the police college in Aylmer,” Fiore says.

Fiore did not go to Aylmer, Quebec, immediately because he had not applied for the courses in time and had to wait for the next round.

At the time, Fiore was the only Italian-speaking officer on the force and remained so until 1982.

“Every major police force at the time had to have a tactical unit there,” he explains.

It was also during this year that Fiore became formally involved with the Italian community after he assisted in a murder investigation involving the stabbing of a young woman near Somerset and Arthur.

“Immaculata High was on Bronson at that time and some students had witnessed the murder but were afraid to talk,” remembers Fiore. “The detective team was unsuccessful in obtaining information and I was asked to participate in the investigation because the students were of Italian origin.”

Fiore, then a beat officer, was able to get the witnesses to testify in a superior court trial, resulting in the conviction of the accused.

In 1979, Fiore was promoted to detective constable and worked mostly in the drug squad and in criminal investigations for 15 years. Although he did not have much contact with the community during this time, Fiore did assist in several situations “dealing with families encountering problems.”

“Everyone needs help at certain times in their life and when they can walk up to you and feel comfortable enough to ask for it, then that’s when I feel a sense of accomplishment,” he says.

In 1987, Fiore was promoted to detective sergeant and in 1990 was placed in charge of the drug intelligence section of the Ottawa police. By 1993, he was a district sergeant in charge of policing around the Rideau Shopping Centre and Byward Market area.

The brunt of his work in the Italian community began in 1994 when he was asked to coordinate the police activities and provide police services for Italian Week, as well as for St. Anthony’s Feast.

“One of the luxuries about working these events was that we had numerous Italian-speaking officers who had joined the police force. I was able to bring all Italian-speaking officers to police these events,” Fiore says.

Fiore’s main responsibility during Italian Week was geared towards the safety aspect of all the activities, as well as closing off the streets and ensuring the licensing of all activities.

Fiore looks forward, with some enthusiasm, to his retirement and being able to spend more time with his family.

“I’m happy to be in the position I’m in,” he says. “I want to devote more time to my family since I’ve been extremely busy over the years, having to devote a lot of time to work.”

Not only does Fiore have to deal with being constantly on call, but during his earlier years with the force he also had to do a lot of shift work.

“Shift work is very hard on the body and the system,” he explains. “It takes a lot of years off your life. It’s very hard. Shift work takes its toll along with the many stressful situations you have to deal with.”

In addition to time with his daughter, son and wife, Fiore will also be able to dedicate more time to the hockey and baseball teams he coaches. Fiore is currently the assistant coach for the Gloucester Rangers AA Major Atom team and coach of a Little League major baseball team.

Throughout his career, Fiore has received several letters of commendation and numerous awards.

“An award means something when you get it but it doesn’t capture the things which are important to me,” he says. “For me, things like being part of the festivities in June and meeting people, that’s what it’s all about. That’s one of the greatest accomplishments for me.”

Fiore insists it’s all about the personal touch.

“That is an accomplishment and it doesn’t happen very often,” he says.

Although he will be retiring at the end of this year, Fiore says he will continue to work with the community through volunteering and participation in community events and activities.

This article was originally published in the June 2001 issue of Il Postino.

Photos by Angelo Filoso