Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

3/4 LENGTH POLICE COAT

Date

1973

Materials

COTTON, CHROME, LEATHER

No. Pieces

1

Length

90.5

Width

51.5

Description

NAVY BLUE COTTON DOUBLE-BREASTED 3/4 LENGTH JACKET WITH 6 LARGE CHROME "POLICE FORCE" BUTTONS ON THE FRONT. 2 FRONT FLAP HIP POCKETS, AND A WIDE BLACK CORDUROY COLLAR. LABEL ON BACK OF NECK MARKED "EVIN TELESCOPIC SLEEVE" "E&R CUSTOMS CLOTHES", "M.W.J. ST. ONGE", "44-18", "JUNE, 1973", "LETHBRIDGE POLICE", AND OTHER DETAILS. POCKETS, CUFFS & BUTTON HOLES ARE TRIMMED WITH BLACK LEATHER. ITEM DOES NOT APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN WORN.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

History

ST. ONGE JOINED CITY POLICE 18 JUNE, 1965 AT AGE 27, HAVING PREVIOUSLY WORKED FOR TRUCKING COMPANY OPERATED BY FODER FAMILY. NEIGHBOR ENCOURAGED ST, ONGE TO JOIN AND WAS ONE OF TWO SELECTED OUT OF INTAKE SCRUTINIZING 100 POSSIBLE CANDIDATES. PER HIS USE OF THIS JACKET, HE RECALLED IN 2006 TO GALT STAFF THAT HE WAS ISSUED A BUFFALO COAT WHEN HE JOINED. WINTERS,HOWEVER, WERE TOO WARM IN LETHBRIDGE FOR SUCH A COAT AND THE UPGRADE TO 3/4 LENGTH JACKETS WAS AN IMPROVEMENT, ALLOWING FOR MORE MOVEMENT AND HANDLING OF PERSONS. HIS FIRST FOUR YEARS WERE ASSIGNED TO THE POLICE’S CITY WIDE FOOT BEAT. ST. ONGE’S 1ST BEAT WAS THE CITY’S EAST, WALKING THE BEAT TWICE NIGHTLY, CHECKING FOR OPEN DOORS (NIGHT) AND BROKEN WINDOWS. HE WAS ALONE AND CARRIED NO RADIO (NO PORTABLE RADIOS ISSUED AT TIME EXCEPT IN PATROL CARS). IT WOULD ONLY BE A COUPLE YEARS AFTER HIS SERVICE BEGAN THAT HAND-HELD RADIOS WERE CARRIED – OTHERWISE ST. ONGE MADE CALLS FROM OPEN BUSINESSES. AFTER FOUR YEARS FOOT PATROL HE TRANSFERRED TO TRAFFIC, COORDINATED BY BILL WEST, FOR SIX YEARS. ST. ONGE WAS ADAMANT THAT HE BE THE “ACCIDENT CAR” AND TO ALWAYS, THEREFORE, BE “FIRST IN THE CHUTE”. WEST SOUGHT OUT GOOD QUALITY CARS, RECALLS ST. ONGE. HE COULD NOT REMEMBER WHEN RADAR WAS IMPLEMENTED AND ALSO CONDUCTED TRAFFIC SAFETY WITH KIDS. LETHBRIDGE WAS THE 2ND CRIME STOPPERS (1982) INITIATIVE IN CANADA AND WAS LAUNCHED HERE BY ST. ONGE. HE WAS THE DEPARTMENT’S MEDIA SPOKESPERSON AND PUBLIC LIASON FOR TEN YEARS, CONDUCTING LECTURES AT THE COLLEGE, WITH SCHOOLS AND CITIZENS. CRIME PREVENTION BECAME A SERIOUS ENDEAVOR DURING HIS YEARS AND HE WAS PROACTIVE IN COMMUNITY POLICING. HE WAS EVEN ON TALK SHOWS (TERRY BLAND) WITH OTHER POLICE AGENCY REPS. AFTER TEN YEARS, HOWEVER, HE WAS ENCOURAGED TO MOVE INTO A NEW ROLE AND WAS PROMOTED TO PATROL SGT. HE WAS A COURT LIASON FOR 2 YEARS (APPROX 1985) BEFORE BECOMING ONE OF FIVE STREET SUPERVISORS, (AKA PATROL SGT) ASSIGNED THE COORDINATION OF 12-13 OFFICERS AND ATTENDING MAJOR SCENES AS REQUIRED FOR ANOTHER TWO YEARS. BEFORE RETIRING IN 1992, HE WAS A STATION SGT STREET SUPERVISOR, REPORTING TO THE STATION SERGEANT. *** ON 28 FEBRUARY, 1975, THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD PUBLISHED A PHOTO AND CAPTION, STATING THAT THE POLICE WERE "EXPERIMENTING WITH A NEW JACKET" AND WERE IN THE PROCESS OF RETIRING THIS JACKET TYPE FROM SERVICE IN FAVOUR OF P19960112124. FOR PHOTO AND ARTICLE, PLEASE REFERENCE THE PERMANENT FILE. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING SOME DONATED BY THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE POLICE SERVICES. FOR A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE LETHBRIDGE POLICE COLLECTION, SEE RECORD P19960112001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY OF LETHBRIDGE POLICE SERVICES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH CURRENT AND FORMER LETHBRIDGE POLICE, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19960112000.

Catalogue Number

P19960112131

Acquisition Date

1996-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail