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This photo was taken in 1957 when I was
stationed at # 12 District Headquarters, North Bay, Ontario. I
started on February 15, 1956 and was assigned to Traffic and
General duties.
There was an opening in the Identification Branch and
I applied for that and was accepted in early 1957. Photographing
traffic accidents and crime scenes was most interesting and I
really enjoyed that part of my work.
Learned all
about fingerprinting at crime scenes, photographing and lifting
prints as well as the classification of prints. As a result I
spent a lot of time on various courses at OPP Headquarters, the
Attorney General's Laboratory, RCMP Headquarters in Ottawa taking
advanced courses on Photography and Fingerprinting.
By 1966 I was
transferred to the Intelligence Branch at OPP General
Headquarters Toronto and worked on Organized Crime, involving
Electronic and Visual Surveillance.
Bank
Robbery Gone Wrong!
We
were working with the Metro Intelligence branch on solving bank
robberies that were taking place. Our surveillance revealed that
two guys were planning a robbery right in Metro, so we started to
follow them day and night. They would go to this bank, one guy
would get out, go into the bank, the other would remain outside
with the engine running. The first guy came back out to the
waiting car it would make a right turn at the first street, then
drive quickly to a nearby mall, park their car and hop into
another one and take a round about way back to where they started
from. This ritual would be repeated several times in the next few
days as we observed them.
The
big day was at hand, indications were that a real robbery would
be taking place. Sure enough, they head for the mall in two cars,
leave one there and head for the bank in another one (stolen
earlier). As the one guy enters the bank, we hear on our radio
one of the Metro guys say " watch this, I will take care of
the wheelman" We see him walk up to the passenger door yank
it open and get in. The car immediately takes off around the
first corner and a unmarked Metro surveillance car takes its
place.
Here
is what actually happened...... As the Metro guy jumps into the
getaway car, he pulls out a gun jabbing it in the guys side, he
screams at the driver " This is a stick up, drive around the
corner and stop. Give me your wallet quickly now" The guy
complies, the Metro guy pulls everything out of the wallet money
included , spilling it all on the floor. The Metro guy looks up
and sees a Metro cruiser blocking off the street ( pre arranged )
says" Oh, shit! don't yell for the cops, I'm outa here"
throws the wallet at the guy. As the other guy comes out of the
bank, he sees the car parked in front is not his buddy, looks
around to see where he might be, turns to run up the street and
finds himself surrounded by uniformed police, as Metro cruisers
converge on the bank. He gives up quietly. The getaway driver in
the meantime is surrounded as well by uniformed members of
Metro's finest. He is busy trying to tell them that he was just
robbed by someone who pulled a gun at him.
Each
one of the culprits is taken away separately so they do not see
one another. They are both questioned and finally put in
adjoining cells. The verbal exchanges between the two were
recorded by one of the Metro guys without their knowledge. After
a debriefing as to the sequence of events we listened to the
recording. It was a real comedy!
The
getaway driver is trying to tell his partner that he was robbed
and taken hostage by a guy with a gun. " Yeah, sure you
bastard... you chickened out and left me you rotten son of a
bitch, who are you trying to kid ?...no one gets robbed in front
of a bank in broad daylight" says the bank robber.
"But,
but I tell you its true, man, this guy hops into my car and
pulls out a gun and shoves it in my side, makes me drive around
the corner, here look, there must be a mark or a bruise where he
jabbed me with the gun." says the getaway driver.
"Sure,
sure.... you are a real prick making up a story about being
robbed, just because you chickened out." The tirade went on
for more than 15 minutes and we all laughed so hard that tears
were running down our faces. Chalk up another good day for the "
Ghost Squad "
CF100
Ride!
While in North Bay, I got to know many of
the flight crews stationed at the Airbase there and we were able
to get a "spin" in the CF100 fighter plane once in a
while. This one evening I am on patrol with a Corporal from the
Detachment at North Bay and as everything is quiet we decide to
go up to base and chat with the pilots that were on standby.
I
was asked if I wanted to go for a ride to Thunder Bay and back as
it would not take too long at 600 plus mph. The Corporal said go
for it, so I said OK. Shortly we were screaming along the runway
and then climbing rapidly headed west. Everything was going fine
until the pilot announced that the aircraft was experiencing some
minor problems as we were over Thunder Bay. After some
conversation with the base at Gimli, Manitoba, he advised me that
we were headed to Gimli to get the problem looked at. Nothing to
get alarmed about, but how was I going to explain being in
Manitoba, over 2000 kilometers away, when I should have been on
patrol in the North Bay area?
The
Corporal had a couple of calls from dispatch and
looked after them, but when the shift ended at midnight, he had
to come back in without me. He told the dispatcher that I had
felt a bit ill and he dropped me off at home. It was nearly four
hours later that the CF100 arrived back at the base in
North Bay and the Corporal was there waiting in his own car and
drove me down to the Detachment to pick up my car. I was much
relieved to be back and nobody the wiser about that experience!
Wow! imagine the newspaper headlines if they would have got wind
of that trip! I would probably been fired for being absent
without leave as well......
Pistol
Packing Mamma!
The Browning Silver
Medalist Target Pistol. Chris just
love to shoot this pistol
even after I had bought her a
pistol of her own.
While stationed in North
Bay ( 1956-1966) I and several others formed a Pistol and
Revolver Club for members of the OPP. Chris also got interested
in shooting when she found out that there was a ladies shooting
club in North Bay. She joined the Ladies division of the
Nipissing Rifle and Revolver Club and started shooting a .22
rifle that Terry had fixed up with target sights, etc for her.
Then I purchased a Hi Standard Supermatic Citation 22
caliber pistol for her so she could take part in the pistol
shooting as well.
Here we see Chris clowning
around with my uniform jacket and cap on with a 38 Police Special
in her right hand, a 22 Beretta in her left hand and a baton
dangling from her left hand as well.
This was an ideal situation for us as we could go
out together to practice pistol shooting up in the gravel pits
north of the city as well as the RCAF range at the Air Base with
the clubs. Later the NRRC built a range east of North Bay by Hwy
17 where we used to practice as well. This was a wonderful
time for us as there were many shooting events throughout the
year, socializing at the dinner parties that followed and
presentations with trophies being awarded.
Below
are couple of the many Trophies
Chris has won Pistol Shooting!
Chris was getting quite proficient with the
handgun, winning many trophies at various pistol shoots, and I
must say she was deadly accurate firing rapid fire targets, 10
shots in 10 seconds grouping the shots on the target so tightly
that they could be covered by a quarter (25 cent piece)
But,
alas... her prowess with the handgun spelled doom for our OPP
shooting club. She took part in an invitational shoot which
included our club as well as many others in the area. Her score
at that competition was better than those of the members of the
OPP club with the exception of Mel Peever, Dick Purdon and
myself. The club was never the same again as former members would
not come out to participate in our practices or shoots. We
learned later that many of them were embarrassed by the
fact that a housewife could outshoot them!
 Cobalt
Hotel
While being on a temporary posting to
Cobalt, Ontario, I had to respond to a call at the Cobalt Hotel
where a fight was in progress between some beer drinking patrons.
As I entered the premises there were two people on the floor
trying to hammer one another with their fists. I asked the
onlookers and bartender who the instigator was in this tussle on
the floor. They all said it was the big Finlander in the torn
shirt.
I
just moved over to where they were struggling and stood there
without saying a word. Suddenly the Finlander caught sight of the
red stripe on the leg of my uniform trousers. His eyes focused on
the red stripe, slowly his head turned as he followed the stripe
up to see my holster, baton and handcuffs. He got up slowly and I
asked him to come outside with me and to get into the cruiser. I
went back in to see if the the other one wanted to lay charges
against the Finlander. He did not saying it was just a bit of a
misunderstanding between them and no harm done.
I
took the Finlander to the local lockup, put him in a cell and
then spoke to him in Finnish. He was surprised to be addressed in
his native language. I asked him how come he did not put up any
struggle when I asked him to come with me. He told me had a high
respect for the OPP and would not cause any trouble drunk or
sober to any OPP officer and added as an after thought...... "
If you start to fight with an OPP officer and get the best of him
you still won't win because, they will send another one to help
and if that isn't enough they keep sending them until they have a
whole army of them to subdue you, it is a no win situation to
start a scrap with the OPP"
This
guy was a giant of a man, over 6 feet tall, weighed at least 250
pounds with no fat on him, a perfect physical specimen. I did not
have to threaten him or cuff him to take him into custody. Makes
one wonder what is gong on in this world of ours when policemen
appear to be using excessive force in what should be routine
arrests and handcuffing elderly men and women who obviously are
not about to escape or cause problems. Perhaps if our law
enforcement officers treated everyone with the respect due them,
we would have less complaints about police behavior.
I
told him he should sleep it off and I would be back in the
morning to let him go. He said that would be fine. The next
morning was Sunday, I was not in uniform when I released him and
invited him to breakfast on me in the local restaurant. He
accepted and we had a long pleasant chat about our Finnish
background, etc.
Linesman
OPP Style!
Recall one night as we went out to install
a "bug" on a telephone line, my installer was making a
few snide remarks as to how the DS (Detective Sergeant) me,
should show leadership qualities and do an installation once in a
while. This consisted of climbing a 60 foot pole this particular
evening, opening box, locating the wire pairs and clipping on the
line powered device. This sort of got me by surprise and I did
not understand what brought it on, unless it was the height of
this particular pole as most of them were only 16 to 25 feet high
usually. Perhaps he was afraid of the height and I do know he did
not have any linesman experience to his benefit.
I
took off my suit coat and tie, grabbed an old jacket from the
back seat to cover my white shirt, strapped on the safety belt
and spurs, asked him for the bug and the wire info.
I
climbed the pole, installed the device, called down to him to
check it out to see if it was transmitting when I turned the
handset on. He said it was OK. I came down the pole in record
time, kicking out my spurs by bringing my knees together and then
back out again to halt my fast descent as the spurs tore long
strips of wood out of the pole. When I came back to the ground
and over to the car, he told me he thought I was going to break
my neck when I was in sort of "free fall" Until
that night he did not know that I had made a living as a linesman
and telephone line troubleshooter on the Algoma Central Railway.
I
think I gained a bit of respect that night for my prowess as a
linesman as my installer had told the others about the
"installation" by the DS
Naked
Lady with a Butcher Knife!
Coming back from taking photos at a fatal
MVA (motor vehicle accident) I heard the North Bay dispatcher
checking for any available unit to assist at a home in one
of the townships where a naked lady was brandishing a butcher
knife and threatening an officer that had been sent to the scene.
I offered to go as I was only about 7 miles away. Upon my
arrival at the home the officer explained the situation...... The
lady was obviously disturbed about something, would not put down
the knife when asked to, and would approach the officer
menacingly every time he went into the house. He would have
to retreat outside.
We
went into the house and tried talking to her to no avail. She
appeared to be in her early twenties, five feet two inches or so,
weighing about 115 pounds, striking shoulder length black hair,
stark naked with a 12 inch butcher knife in her right hand. As
the other officer was talking to her, she kept moving toward him
as he went around the kitchen table and when he passed where I
was standing she continued following him without looking at me.
I
had grabbed a blanket out of the trunk of my cruiser before
coming into the house thinking that we should cover her up if we
could subdue her. I indicated to the other officer to go around
the table once again and perhaps I could grab her from behind as
she passed where I was standing. Sure enough, she did not even
look my way as she went by and I moved up behind her quietly,
wrapped the blanket around her in one motion, kicked her behind
the knees so she dropped to the floor, grabbed both her
arms and held them up until the other officer grabbed her wrists
and removed the knife from her hand. She struggled briefly, but
quit when she realized that she was hogtied, so to speak. She was
taken to the local mental health facility where she received
treatment and was later released a month or so later. No charges
were laid by the investigating officer.
Curious
Cop!
Having
an early morning meeting with the Intelligence section of the
London, Ontario police department, I had checked into a motel
room for the night. As I lay relaxing on the bed I heard a
peculiar sound coming from the next unit. Having my surveillance
equipment in the unmarked cruiser, I went out and brought in my
bag of tricks to investigate this sound. I used a spike
microphone inserted into the electrical outlet on the adjoining
wall and plugged in the amplifier and tape recorder. The sound
was vaguely familiar and made me think of the Gestetner copy
machine I had used at North Bay District Headquarters when I was
stationed there.
Why
would anyone be running a machine in a motel room. A check of the
occupant's vehicle license plate did not revealed anything of
interest. I decided to call the head of the Intelligence section
and tell him of the curious goings on in the next room. He said
he would be right down to see me. Shortly, he arrived and since
the sound was still coming thru the wall, had him listen to it
live via earphones. He agreed that it sounded like a copy machine
or something of that nature. He was very interested and made
several phone calls and said that they would be raiding the room
next door. He also advised me that this may be a break that they
had been waiting for in their investigation of bogus cheques
being passed in London and surrounding area.
To
make a long story short, the raid went off without a hitch, the
guy was arrested, a small printing press confiscated and
thousands of bogus cheques were seized bearing the logo and
name of a large local manufacturing plant.
Later
I was informed that when the investigating officers went to the
manufacturing firm to confirm that the cheques were indeed copies
of their payroll cheques, but that they were new ones that had
not yet been used previously and would be issued the following
month for the first time!
This
investigation became even more complex as company officials were
trying to learn how criminals could get copies of new
cheques that had never been issued before!
As
you can see " Curiosity killed that criminal scheme"
Quick
Thinking Bug Installer
We
were doing surveillance in the Sarnia area assisting the local
police departments in a series of break ins that seemed to be the
work of an organized gang. We had wiretaps going and trying to
evaluate the information we were getting, however we seemed to be
lacking any specifics so decided to bug the living room of an
apartment that was rented by the prime suspect in the case.
We
had asked the local police to keep an eye on the suspect and let
us know when he was out of the apartment. We got word that he was
in a local beer parlor with some of his friends and proceeded to
the apartment, picked the lock, entered and were moving some
furniture around to locate an electrical outlet, where we could
install the bugging device, when we heard noises and a voice
saying "Who's there? " It appeared to be coming from a
bedroom down the hall and caused us to freeze on the spot,
however my partner answered quickly and said " Its the
landlord, I was just checking to see if you're still here as you
are late in your rent" ( we had heard that he needed a quick
heist to pay his rent on the wiretap) The guy answered and said
"I will have it for you the day after tomorrow, OK?" My
partner replied "OK " as we headed out the door.
As
soon as we were outside we got on the radio and asked if the
suspect was still in the beer parlor and the answer came back
affirmative. We suggested someone go in and make sure that he was
there. Soon we got word back that he was not there. Taught us a
lesson, not to rely on others, for such information.
 Rigor
Mortis
Got a call one day to investigate a death
that occurred in one of the Townships East of North Bay. I arrive
at the old farm house and am met by an elderly man who states
that his brother passed away in his sleep and he did not know
what to do except call the police and then place a kitchen chair
by the bedside. I check to see if there is any pulse, but I can
not find one. I ask a few questions as to what had occurred the
day before and whether there had been any signs of illness or had
his brother complained about feeling poorly.
My
mind comes back to his remark about placing of the kitchen chair
by the bedside. He had said he knew that he needed to place the
kitchen chair by the bedside when death occurred..... Things just
did not click in my mind as to what he meant by it. Finally
I asked him why he placed the chair there. " You know, it is
needed for Rigor Mortis to "set" (sit) in."
Obviously the old gentleman's interpretation of Rigor Mortis was
different than that of the medical profession which is "The
muscular rigidity that occurs (or "sets" in )shortly
after death" I did not bother to enlighten him on the
subject.
The
401 "Stunt Driver"
One
day as Sgt. Frank B and I were headed to London to set up a
command center for surveillance and a wiretap operation, we had
just got by the Airport on the Hwy 401 when we spot dust
billowing up as a car coming east is sliding off the shoulder of
the road and finally starts to roll over and over up an
embankment and then rolls back down ending up on its roof. We
stop and run across the median and the east bound roadway to see
the driver trying to get out of the window. He doesn't
appear to be hurt and Frank asked " That was quite the ride,
are you drunk or something?" To which the driver replies "
Of coursh I am, what the hell do you shink I am? A damned
stunt driver or somethin?"
With
that we radio for a patrol car to come to the scene and deal with
the situation. We had many a laugh over that incident.
Safety
Check and the Finlanders
Back in 1956 we used to stop all traffic
on number 11 Highway south of North Bay to do spot checks to see
if all lights, brakes, etc were working on the vehicles we pulled
over. If everything was OK we would give them a sticker for the
windshield so that they would not be stopped in the future.
This particular day I am about to ask the driver
to turn on his headlights etc when I hear the passenger ask the
driver in Finnish where the bottle of whiskey was. The driver
replies that it is under the back seat on the drivers side.
Hmmmm!
I ask the driver to turn on the lights, turn signals, push in the
brake pedal to see if the brake lights work. I then ask to see
his drivers license and ownership. Everything checks out OK and I
give them a sticker for the windshield, but then ask both of them
to get out of the vehicle. When they are both out and standing on
the right side of the vehicle, I reach in and extract the 3/4
full bottle of whiskey from under the back seat.
I
then join them on the right side of the vehicle and tell them if
the bottle had been in the trunk I would have let them go, but
this is a serious offence and I have to write it up. " Do
you understand? " I say to them.
"Yes, officer we do" is the
reply.
" I could let you go if the bottle
was empty, so what if I pour it out here into the ditch? It would
be empty then, right?" I say. They nod their heads agreeing
that it would be empty.
I
unscrew the cap and pour the whiskey out very slowly, watching
their faces. The expressions that crossed their faces were
priceless. One of them was licking his lips with an agonized look
while the other just sort of froze as the bottle was emptied. I
told them that they could continue their trip but do not carry
open liquor in the car again. As they got in and were
pulling away, I heard the passenger say in Finnish to the
driver... " That damned cop has a nose trained to seek out
liquor, did you see how he went straight to it?"
The
Corporal that had watched the entire episode asked if I had said
"Good Bye" to them in Finnish as they left. I told them
I had not and I did not want to spoil everything by letting them
know I was a Finlander and spoke Finnish. This way they
will tell the story over and over again to all their friends,
etc.
Staff
Sergeant and the telephone
While I was in North Bay, we had
a crusty old Norwegian transferred to District Headquarters from
somewhere in North Western Ontario. He had spent most of his
career in the sticks with party line phones etc and I liked him
from the first time I saw him. He was really down to earth and
handled all disciplinary problems fairly.
One
day my Corporal and I heard him trying to make a long distance
call. We heard him say to the phone..." Listen lady, how in
hell do you know that I dialed the wrong number when I haven't
finished dialing it? Are you listening to me? If you would
just shut up, we could talk and settle this problem..... Now
damned it, shut up and listen to me for a change" He bangs
down the phone and mutters about stupid lady operators. Shortly
after he tries again and the same conversation ensues but this
time his voice is raised and he is thoroughly pissed off with
this operator that won't listen to him. This is apparently the
first time he has heard the automated recordings that we are all
used to if we hit the wrong digit or whatever.
Shortly
thereafter the Detective Sgt. comes in and helps him get his call
through.
Thief
Powder on the Toilet Seat!
Some of the things we did were definitely
not nice. I recall one day while others were out to lunch at
District Headquarters two of us decided to sprinkle a tiny bit of
Thief Powder on the toilet seat in the women's rest room.
 This
powder was interesting in that, it was nearly invisible and when
it came in contact with the skin, it would turn deep purple
colour. The more you tried to wash it off, the more it would
spread. To get it off was usually several days of constant
washing and scrubbing.
The
next morning we heard bits and pieces of conversation regarding
the bottoms of two of our secretaries being covered with a deep
purple stain and it was also visible on their hands where they
had tried to wash it off. We were never suspected of
anything and the mystery probably still remains in their minds as
to what happened to their bottoms!
Tractor
Trailer and Mini skirted young lady
I was riding a street car on Queen Street
in Toronto one day when the streetcar came to a halt as a large
tractor trailer was stopped on the street blocking the path of
the streetcar. The operator waited, rung his bell and so on to
get the tractor to move, however to no avail as there was no one
in the cab.
A
shapely young lady in a mini skirt, sitting in the seat in front
of me, gets up, asks the operator to open the door and tells him
she will back shortly.
 We
see her walk down the length of the trailer, climb into the cab
with lots of leg showing beneath her mini skirt. Suddenly there
is a puff of smoke from the diesel exhausts as the unit moves
forward for half a block, parks along the curb and the girl
clambers down from the cab. The operator of the street car moves
forward and opens the door to let the young lady back in, who
saunters to her seat as if nothing special happened. Everyone on
the street car clapped their hands enthusiastically as the street
car continued on its route.
I ask her
where she learned to handle the tractor trailer so expertly. She
replies that her family owns a well known freight line of diesel
tractor trailers, etc and that she has been jockeying the big
rigs about since she was 14 years old at their staging yards. You
just never know about others until you ask!
Snow
Plow
The
snow storm that hit us yesterday ( Jan 25/04 ) reminded me of the
following incident that took place while I was stationed in North
Bay.
I
received a phone call from our Radio Room to proceed to an
accident involving a Department of Highways snow plow and
another vehicle on the North Bay By Pass at Twin Lakes. The
DOT had requested photographs be taken for their files ,
etc.
The
weather was really bad with snow coming down and visibility very
poor due to blowing snow as I headed to the scene. As I parked
behind the snow plow, I looked around to see where the other
vehicle involved might be. There wasn't anything in sight on the
highway, but I heard faint voices coming from down an embankment.
Trying to see through the blowing snow, I was able to distinguish
the underside of a vehicle with all four wheels in the air about
150 feet off the highway. The entire vehicle was buried in the
snow with several people trying to dig away the snow from the
sides of the vehicle.
Looking
over the scene in front of the snow plow, I noticed tire tracks
leading up to plow's right side. This plow was one of the V
shaped ones that stood six feet or so high, with sort of sloping
curved configuration to lift the snow and throw it high
beyond the shoulder of the road. I took several photographs
facing both directions and then took a shot of the goings on down
the embankment. More people had arrived and they were now digging
in earnest to see who may be trapped in the vehicle.
Suddenly,
I see a person being pulled out and assisted to his feet.
Apparently he was the only one in the vehicle and he did not have
a scratch on him!
Talking
to the snow plow operator and his assistant revealed that this
vehicle just appeared out of the swirling snow and it hit the
plow, went airborne rolling slowly to its left as it sailed the
150 feet through the air, landing upside down in the snow. Both
the operator and the assistant remarked that if the vehicle had
hit the plow dead on the V shaped nose it would probably have
split the vehicle in two with serious injuries to the occupant.
The
driver explained that he was traveling at a fair clip when
swirling snow suddenly obliterated everything in front of him and
the only thing he saw was this yellow wall or something come up
just before he went flying through the air.
No
charges were laid, there was no damage to the overturned vehicle
or to the snow plow and no injuries suffered by the driver. I
think it had to be his lucky day !
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