User:HJKeats/Policemen

source The Telegram

While Const. Terry Hoey was the first RCMP officer killed in Newfoundland and Labrador in the course of his duties, the first on-duty police officer killed in the province predates him by almost 100 years.

When The Telegram retold Hoey's story on Nov. 7, 50 years after his death, the paper received a handful of calls and e-mails asking about William Moss, the Newfoundland Constabulary officer killed in Badger during the loggers' strike.

That actually occurred in March of 1959, about four months after Hoey's death.

But the Newfoundland and Labrador Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Association informed The Telegram that seven police officers died before Hoey while serving the province.

The first officer killed was Const. Jeremiah Dunn of the Newfoundland Constabulary in 1861 at Harbour Grace.

A total of 17 police and peace officers have lost their lives while on duty in the province. Association president RNC Const. Georgina Short describes the officers as a family.

"We are always proud to stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against crime, and certainly in time of sorrow we are standing much closer," she says.

Their names are listed on a memorial outside Confederation Building in St. John's which was unveiled in September 2004.

Here are their stories.

Const. Jeremiah Dunn of the Newfoundland Constabulary was on patrol in Harbour Grace on Oct. 22, 1861 with three other officers. They told two intoxicated men to go home, but the men refused. One of the men was arrested but a large crowd gathered as the officers tried to make the second arrest. Some threw stones and one hit Dunn in the head. He died five days later.

Chief Const. Charles Calpin of the Terra Nova Constabulary died on Aug. 9, 1870 in Bay Roberts. He accidentally shot himself while putting down a dog that had bit a child.

According to a year-end report to the House of Assembly for 1884, Sgt. Thomas Fennessey of the Newfoundland Constabulary was "accidentally smothered in the snow while going his rounds on duty at Betts Cove, on 27th January, 1884."

Ranger Danny Corcoran of the Newfoundland Rangers was on a cross-country patrol on the Northern Peninsula in the spring of 1936, but he got lost on his return to Harbour Deep. The Rangers searched for Corcoran but didn't find him until almost a month later. He was still alive but in poor shape. Corcoran had walked, then crawled and almost made it to Harbour Deep when he fell through ice, soaking his feet, which subsequently froze. After he was found, Corcoran was taken to St. Anthony where a doctor amputated his feet and diagnosed tetanus. Corcoran died on April 7, 1936 before an anti-toxin could arrive from St. John's.

Cpl. Michael Greene of the Newfoundland Rangers died near Lamaline in March 1939 after his horse and sled fell through the ice at Danzic Point.

Ranger Michael Collins of the Newfoundland Rangers died on Aug. 8, 1946 after being injured on duty in a motorcycle accident at Indian Head on the Port au Port Peninsula the evening before.

Const. Francis P. Stamp of the Newfoundland Constabulary was a well-known boxer as well as a police officer. He was the Light Heavyweight Champion of Newfoundland in 1929. He was working the night shift in the wee hours of May 27, 1954. While attempting to arrest two American servicemen for assault on New Gower Street, one ran away. Stamp and another officer chased the second man down. After returning to the police station on Water Street, Stamp who was then 50 years old, died from a heart attack.

Const. John Terrance Hoey of the RCMP was shot and killed while investigating a domestic dispute on Nov. 6, 1958 in Botwood.

On March 10, 1959, Const. William Moss of the Newfoundland Constabulary was hit on the head with a piece of pulp wood during the Badger riot - which occurred during a loggers' strike in the town. He died two days later.

RCMP Const. Robert W. Amey and his partner, Const. David Keith, were trying to recapture four men who escaped from Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's. On Dec. 17, 1964, the men broke through a roadblock near Whitbourne in a stolen car. The men left the car and ran away and were found hiding in the town. When Amey went to radio for help, the men rushed Keith, beat him, and grabbed his service revolver. Amey drew his weapon but one of the fugitives fired three shots. One hit Amey in the chest, killing him instantly. Afterwards, Keith used Amey's gun to arrest all four men.

On Sept. 16, 1969, Assistant Forest Ranger Silas Baikie of the Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources died in a boating accident while on patrol at Charleys Point in Lake Melville, Labrador.

Fishery guardians Calvin Augustus Swyers and John Young of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) were killed in a helicopter crash near Barachois Pond Park on June 2, 1973. The two were patrolling with a civilian pilot when they were caught in an unexpected wind and rain storm. The pilot was also killed.

In August 1975, Forest Rangers Gary Noseworthy and Carl Francis George of the Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources were killed on forest fire patrol in Wabush, Labrador when their plane crashed.

DFO Fishery Officer Joseph V. Tremblett was patrolling the shores of Lake Melville, Labrador on Aug. 5, 1981, when he slipped off rocks into deep water and drowned.

On Sept. 18, 1957, Const. Samuel Jeffers of the Newfoundland Constabulary was in a motorcycle accident while on duty in St. John's. Jeffers never recovered from head injuries and spent 43 years at the Waterford Hospital before dying on Sept. 4, 2000.