Officer hangs up his spurs © after 29 years on force By MARGARET SPEIRS A TERRACE RCMP officer is ‘retiring after serving for over a decade in traffic ser- vices and general duty. Cst. J.R. (James Robert) Walker leaves his job: on * June 22 after 14 years at the” Terrace RCMP detachment and a total of 29 years in the force. “Tm a little beyond my best-before’ date,” the 50- year-old joked. “All of my service has been operational and most people my age and most with my years of service have spent more than half of their service behind a desk.” Walker joined the RCMP. in 1975 as a civilian meniber at the Canadian Police Infor- mation Centre for 18 months and then quit-to move to _ Ontario: to serve with the Gloucester police force for. another 18 months before returning to the RCMP in B.C. He then spent 14 years in the Fraser Valley, with 10 of those years in general duty and about four in traffic ser- vices. He said he didn’t find po- lice work to be as dangerous or stressful as people might think. — “There are many more vocations out there far more ” dangerous and stressful than police work,” he said. - “The interesting thing about stress in police work is it takes place in the confines of the office: very little takes place on the road.” Walker said he stumbled’. . into becoming a police of- ficer. “As [got into police work it’s never ever been a form _ of labour, it’s always: been a KNOWN COMMONLY only by his initials, RCMP Constable J:R. Walker has spent just under half of his 29 years on the force based in Terrace, primarily in traffic services. He’s now retiring. MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO form of recreation or enter- tainment,” he said. “The ‘who-done-it’ is easy.” He said in any police ju- risdiction that 98 per cent of crimes are committed by two per cent of the population. “We live in a peaceful society, but we do have our moments,” he said. Memorable moments in-. = clude several close calls. About 20 years ago, in part “Mission, B.C., Walker shot a suspect before the Suspect could shoot him. A car accident here also stands out. In October 2003, while returning from Prince Ru- pert around midnight, Walk- er Struck a moose 40km west of Terrace, despite driving - On excellent road condi- ‘tions. ~ “T was looking for a moose and there it was,” he “Said, adding=he=thought he © “could see what was on the road ahead but discovered that’s not true. . _ “Tt was just a_case of a brown on black type of thing ‘and kaboom.” - Walker sustained a con- cussion and received seven stitches to close a wound on his forehead caused by the edge of the vehicle’s roof buckling and cutting him. These were minor. inju- ries considering the driver’s side airbag didn’t deploy be- cause the animal hit the pas- senger side. ' “The seatbelt and Kevlar vest saved my life,” he said. . . The moose died and the police car was destroyed. Walker said .. he never Commercial vehicle safety days. COMMERCIAL | wie eae RCMP from June 7 to 9. ’ VEHICLE Vehicle ;.Awareness _ ized... by the. North Pacific Traffic Services division of the al Pizza Hut Tim Hortons Sidewalkers PNG A&W Zellers Mohawk Fountain Tire Aqua: Clear All Seasons Don Diegos Northwest Fuels All West Glass Kalum Tire MacCarthy GM Northern Drugs images Ruins Dairy Queen Creative Zone Banovic Family THANK YOU! Terrace Peaks Gymnastics Club would like to thank the following sponsors for making our April 23 2005 Invitational a success! Sight and Sound Skeena Sawmills a Northern Savings Credit Union Complete Computer Services . Northern E-Clips Northern Motor Inn . Keenleyside Insurance Northcoast Anglers Marks Workwear House Skeena Valley Golf & Country Club Mr. Mikes West Coast Grill St. Johns Ambulance Cooks Jewellers Fc. Speedee Printers ina - Cooky Jar Bakery == Misty River Books * The Medical Clinic Save On Foods Twin River Electric Copperside Stores Rod and Barb Ames ~ Last but not least, much thanks to all the volunteers, for all your time and effort. ke The police, working in partner- ship with the Workers’ Compensation Board and ICBC, Will ‘check :he:me-... chanical safety of these vehicles as well as watch for speed, hours of operation and log book keeping. Sgt. Don Murray of the traffic ser- vices says police will use a mobile scale to check tractor-trailer units, taxi- ;’ cabs ‘and cube vans at the commercial:> scale at the corner of Hwy 16 and Hwy ~ 37 will be closed for maintenance. planned for retirement until a few years ago. “J never gave it much ~ thought,” he said. “I had a moment of rec- . ognition that this is going to happen sometime so I'd bet-" ter make some decisions.” Walker realized he didn’t want to be working at 60. “T’ve got.a lot more im- portant things to do with my life,” he said. .. He will now have more . lime to spend with his wife "of 26 years and their 10 chil- dren. “Raising a family has be- : come first and foremost,” he said, adding that agricultural pursuits will keep him busy on their Jackpine Flats acre- age. He believes he’ll find a. el part-time job; adding that if something.comes along that interests him, he’ ll take it. - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - A3 News In Brief Albertan charged in highway death THREE CHARGES have been laid against an Alberta tractor trailer driver who caused a nine-vehicle crash that killed one person on Hwy 16 outside of Kitwanga last year. The 52-year-old St. Albert resident will face one charge of criminal negligence causing death and two — charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm . when he appears in New Hazelton Provincial Court at a later date.’ Although Crown Counsel has approved the charges, police will not release the driver’s name until he makes his first court appearance. Harry James Ash, 41; of Prince. George died instant- ly when a transport truck slammed into an eight-car line-up stopped at a’construction zone 10 km east of Kitwanga on April 14, 2004. The truck driver and one other person «were trans- ported to Vancouver hospital. The rest were taken to Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton where they were .treated for non-life threatening injurics and released. The highway was closed for.seven hours for the po- lice clean up and investigation. Local driver hits moose -A MAN needed the jaws of life to be removed from his car after he struck'a moose south of ‘Air Park at Kilometre 14 while driving northbound on Hwy 37 Just after midnight on May 22. The 35-year-old Terrace resident suffered a bleeding nose after hitting the animal, which smashed the wind- shield of his Chrysler Neon. Kitimat fire and ambulance crews used the j jaws of life to cut off the roof and extract the driver, a process that took half an hour according to Cst. Sara Mottishaw ~ of Kitimat RCMP. The driver was taken to Kitimat hospital for x-rays and’ kept overnight. Mottishaw said he was “very fortu- _ nate” his injuries weren’t more serious. He was first in a line of cars driving along the straight _ stretch of highway when the accident occurred. None of the other motorists reported seeing the moose in the rain and fog. Mottishaw said the female moose didn’ t survive and |, was found i in the ditch beside the accident site. ; Teachers sue Premier THE B.C. Teachers’ Federation’ is taking. Premier Gordon Campbell to the B.C. Supreme Court over defamatory statements. made- during. the provincial election campaign. According to the ‘teachers, Campbell riade many false statements during his May 12 news: conference, including accusing them of planning to ‘strike before provincial exams. Campbell didn’t respond to the teachers’, request for an apology and retraction, and teachers felt this issue was too important to leave unchallenged. 2 "The, premier said many, things about teachers, and : , our. 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