Staff Sergeant Major Doug Pack (l) and Retired Sergeant Major Glen McRae at recent unveiling

photo courtesy North District RCMP

Prince George, BC – A small assembly of RCMP officers and staff members gathered at the RCMP’s North District Headquarters in Prince George recently for a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating the officers who have lost their lives while on-duty in Northern BC.

"It is with deep respect and honour that we remember fallen officers stationed in Northern Detachments of the North District," said Superintendent Rod Booth.  "These members gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives to Canada, serving as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."

Over a period spanning 1901 to 2000, there have been seven officers killed in the North District, which covers 73-percent of the province:

• 28-year-old Constable Norman Campbell and 30-year-old Constable Spencer Gilbert Heathcote drowned in the Stikine River, Alaska while out on patrol with their team of sled dogs on December 26, 1901.
• 25-year-old Constable Stephen Kasper was killed in a commercial airplane crash in the Prince Rupert Harbour, while returning from prisoner escort duty on May 11, 1953.
• 27-year-old Constable Michael Joseph Buday was shot and killed on-duty as a Police Dog Handler with the Emergency Response Team while attempting to arrest a suspect in a forested area near Teslin Lake on March 19, 1985. 
• 25-year-old Auxiliary Constable Joseph Ernest Balmer, known as Sam Balmer, died as a result of a motor vehicle crash while responding to a complaint  of domestic abuse near 150 Mile House on August 19, 1991.
• 49-year-old Sergeant Edwin Michael Mobley and 48-year-old Special Constable Timothy James Nicholson were killed in a plane crash in Teslin Lake on August 15, 2000.  Sergeant Mobley had been piloting the plane, S/Cst. Nicholson was based out of Ottawa and was assisting with relief work for the Air Section at the time of the accident.

While individual plaques are on display in the Detachments where the officers were serving when they lost their lives, North District Media Relations Officer, Constable Lesley Smith, says this is the first commemorative piece that honours the fallen members collectively.

"We felt that it was extremely important to honour them with a permanent plaque, so that anybody that comes to North District Headquarters – members and visitors – can appreciate the price these officers paid in serving the public."

The plaque is on display on the northern wall in the foyer of the building.