Halifax Regional Police (HRP) helped celebrate an 11-year-old boy’s birthday with a special naming ceremony for their bomb squad robot, now officially called Robbie.

This morning, Cam Mamye and his family joined officers at the Halifax station downtown as they added an official name tag to the MK3 Caliber robot, which is used for handling explosives and other remote tasks that are too dangerous for people.

Cam and his mom beside Robbie the Robot. PHOTO: NATALIE CHIASSON/ACADIA BROADCASTING

Cam’s dad, Rick Mamye, says Robbie the Robot also appears each year for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and HRP’s Easter event.

Mamye explains, “over the last three years, the Halifax Regional Police and CNIB have teamed up to do a beeping Easter egg hunt for kids who are blind or have low vision. Cam has been playing with him and he gave the robot the name Robbie. The police loved it, so they ran with that, and today was the official naming ceremony.”

Chief Don McLean commented that, “it’s really special in the sense that, you know, a young man took it upon himself to put forward that the robot as part of our team needed a name and we agreed with him.”

Together, Cam and Officer Habib attached plaques to Robbie in both English and Braille to reinforce the message of inclusion.

Officer Habib and Cam adding name tags to Robbie the Robot, parents and grandparents in background. PHOTO: NATALIE CHIASSON/ACADIA BROADCASTING

Cam told Acadia News, “I met him [Robbie] three years ago on a beeping Easter egg hunt with the bomb squad police, and Robbie was there. Last year I named the robot Robbie because they were going to have a contest, and this year they said we’re not going to have a contest, we’re just going to go with Robbie!”

Staff at the police station even brought out a cake for Cam, and Robbie the Robot sang him Happy Birthday.

Cam’s family expressed gratitude for the event recognizing Cam and they want to send “a huge thank you to Halifax Regional Police” for inviting them because “events like this are so special.”