Colin Wilcox is a retired RCMP and looks back at an idea he had that greatly contributed to what became a memorial for slain police officers in Winnipeg. Wilcox resides in Portage la Prairie and showed PortageOnline some small matchbox-type RCMP cars.
He explains how the idea came about and what it accomplished.
“I had the idea to make a small toy police car. All the funds from the cars went into what we call a Slain Peace Officers fund This is a fund that all the divisions have in Manitoba’s D division. If an officer gets killed on duty in your detachment or your division, there are one or two people who work with this individual and we have the funds to send them to the funeral, and pay for their expenses.”
After he heard about the cause, he says he spoke with the group at headquarters. It was initially noted that about $600 would be required to begin the project, but the group didn’t have that available.
“We got the money, got the cars, sold them, and paid the person back from whom we received the money, and went on with it. About $75,000 went into that fund for the monument. It just about paid for most of it.”
Wilcox says a young journalist worked at the local newspaper and set out to take photos of the cars. He notes it was in March, 1994.
“My wife and I were planning a trip to visit her cousins in California, and the cars were all in our basement. We flew out while young lady did the article up. She put it on the cross-country wire. I had no idea. So, we called back from California. Because my wife, Patty, wanted to talk to our daughter, Michelle, and she told her, ‘Colin's cars have gone crazy.’”
He adds Corporal Fred Conroy informed him that he’s been shipping cars and received inquiries from all across Canada.
“They went everywhere. It was just something we did that was different. The Monument is in Winnipeg at the division headquarters.
The monument was unveiled on May 30th, 1996.
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