Kathleen Ann King

Divisions Served: “D”

Medals & Honours: 125th Anniversary Confederation of Canada Medal, Commissioner’s Commendation, Homicide Investigation 20 Year Long Service Medal with 25, 30, and 35 year bars, Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, Commissioner’s Group Ensign Award, Manitoba Excellence in Law Enforcement Medal, Order of Merit for the Police Forces, Ian Logan Memorial Award, Leadership Award by Manitoba Provincial Advisory Committee on Child Abuse

Pillar Location: This Nameplate has not yet been mounted onto the Pillars, but is on display in the Centre in the interim.

Story: 

I am a Manitoba girl, born and raised. A farmer’s daughter, who from the time I was 14 years old, wanted to be a police officer. However, when I graduated from high school in 1973, the RCMP was not an option. The Force was a male member only organization. So I changed course and decided to become a Social Worker. As luck would have it, I was almost through a one-year certificate course in Social Services when I saw the news on television saying the RCMP was accepting female applicants. That was it! I headed straight to the Brandon Detachment and applied. I completed my Social Services Course and then worked as a Nurses’ Aide while my RCMP application was being processed.

I was sworn in on March 10, 1975, becoming a member of Troop 36 – 74/75, the second female troop in the history of the Force. Training in Regina was about learning to do things I had never done before such as shooting a revolver. I loved it. There were aching muscles, good days and tough days, but it taught me that I could do so many more things than I thought I could…if I just gave it a try. It also gave me my troopmates: such a special group of women from all across Canada. We did everything together. We shared the good and bad times, had fun together, and laughed and cried together, all the while stepping ahead into new and unknown territory.

September 8, 1975 was our Pass-Out. It was difficult to leave Depot. I missed my troopmates, but my career was waiting for me in my first posting of Swan River in D Division. (Manitoba) These were the very early days and having a female member on Detachment was such a new thing, for all of us. It was new for the male members, it was new to me and it was new to the general public. The beauty of youth is that you just forge ahead and that is what I did.
I enjoyed detachment work very much. I learned a great deal from some of the wonderful members I worked with at the five detachments I was stationed in. Experience is a good teacher: the good, the not so good and the otherwise! I also made some wonderful friends, both within the RCMP and in the community at every location. Life was good and it was all exciting and interesting, and I loved being in the thick of things with whatever was happening.

But, in 1986, I found my true calling in the Force! At 11 years of service I was transferred to the Dauphin Sub-Division General Investigation Section (later to become a Major Crime Unit) and that was it. Major Crime would become my passion for the next 24 years. I loved putting the pieces of the puzzle together on an investigation and I loved “reading” a crime scene. I loved the types of investigations, everything from homicides to child exploitation to armed robberies to high profile cases and everything in between!

I was so fortunate to have been able to work Major Crime out of three locations – Dauphin, Selkirk and Winnipeg. I was also very fortunate to have been able to work my way through the ranks from constable, to corporal, to sergeant, to staff sergeant, all in Major Crime. Each promotion gave me additional responsibility and I loved that too. I taught on Division courses and, for a time, at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa as a guest lecturer in my field. Also being VIP trained, I was so fortunate to have been able to provide protection for Heads of State from various countries in the world, Governors General, Prime Ministers and also for the Premier of Manitoba during the Meech Lake Accord. I was able to enjoy working on Provincial Committees and being involved as a co-supervisor of the first integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) in Canada (RCMP, Winnipeg and Brandon Police Services). As a Staff Sergeant, I loved watching my bright, capable young members progress using their innovation and ability. I was so proud of all of them and I still am! There is so much more but it is not possible to tell it all here! I must say that as much as I loved it, it was not all easy, it was not all fun. There are struggles that we all go through including disappointments, and trying times. This is life. There were jobs needing to be done that were difficult and heartbreaking but I did not have to do it alone. My co-workers and I were a team and I am so grateful for all the members I have worked with; those who had my back and those who have been my mentors and my friends. 

35 years of service passed in the blink of an eye. There was not one day that I did not want to go to work, in fact, it never ever seemed like “work”. But there does come a time where if you love your job enough, you will know when to leave it. You have made your contribution and now it is time to let others take over from you. I am so grateful to the Force for everything it has given me and there is truly no other career that I could have loved as much. Lastly, my troopmates, who were there at the beginning, are still a part of my life. Our troop has a reunion every five years and we still laugh together, cry together and support each other. We have a brick on the Heritage Walkway and its inscription says, “Friends Forever.” And we are.

I retired on March 10, 2010. I miss the people I worked with and the investigations, but I am enjoying this next phase of my life. I have not left my field entirely as I am a board member for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection based out of Winnipeg. It is my passion. Volunteering, traveling and enjoying family, friends and neighbours fill my days and I am blessed.

Postings:
Swan River 75-09-20 to 77-01-28 Detachment
Morris 77-01-29 to 78-05-14 Detachment
Falcon Lake 78-05-15 to 78-09-10 Temporary summer transfer
Morris 78-09-11 to 79-05-16 Detachment
Falcon Lake 79-05-17 to 79-09-09 Temporary summer transfer
Morris 79-09-10 to 80-07-04 Detachment
Winnipegosis 80-07-05 to 84-07-12 Detachment
Dauphin 84-07-13 to 86-07-20 Detachment
Dauphin 86-07-21 to 88-02-06 Dauphin S/D GIS
Calgary 88-02-07 to 88-03-02 Calgary Olympics
Dauphin 88-03-03 to 89-02-16 Dauphin S/D GIS
Winnipeg 89-02-17 to 97-04-13 Crimes Against Persons Unit and GIS
Selkirk 97-04-14 to 99-04-01 i/c Manitoba East S/D GIS
Selkirk 99-04-01 to 99-09-29 Selkirk Major Crime Unit
Winnipeg 99-09-30 to 20-05-27 D Division Major Crime
Winnipeg 20-05-28 to 20-03-10 D Division Major Crime Services

Retirement – 2010-03-10

Promotions: (All in GIS/Major Crime)

Corporal August 16, 1991
Sergeant September 30, 1999
Staff Sergeant May 28, 2003