Colleen McCormick - Excellence in Performance

In March 1998 a man waited for and bludgeoned his wife to death in the garage of the family home in southwestern Ontario. He then faked a car accident to disguise the cause of her death. Once police arrived at the scene they were quick to determine that this had been no accident and that the woman's injuries had not been caused in the collision but by other means in another location. Although the accused man later admitted to police that he had injured his wife in the garage after an argument, he persisted in his assertions that his wife had been driving the car at the moment of the collision and had died in the accident because of the deployment of the air bag.

Detective Constable Colleen McCormick was called in to assist with the investigation. Through her expertise in the field of accident reconstruction, particularly in the area of the characteristics of airbag deployment, she was able to rebutt the defence proposed by the accused. In court Detective Constable McCormick was able to explain in understandable terms to the jury, her opinion of what had occurred before, during and as a result of the collision. Despite intensive cross-examination she never wavered in the view that the victim had suffered her fatal injuries not in but prior to the collision itself. After a four month trial involving many witnesses, motions, Charter applications and voir dires a conviction for first degree murder was registered.

This is not the only case that Colleen has been called in to assist with as part of the investigative team. More recently she was assigned to the case of a Military Police officer who had committed suicide. Colonel William Reid of Canadian Forces Base Borden describes the actions of Constable McCormick as "efficient and professional; more importantly she demonstrated a good deal of sensitivity that is so essential under these circumstances. She went out of her way to keep unit members well informed, including providing a debriefing that proved instrumental in dispelling the rumours that often circulate following such an incident."

Detective Constable McCormick expertise and skills have proven key in the outcome of many investigations. She is also called upon on a regular basis to lecture at various police training facilities in Ontario on subjects including reconstruction, bloodstain pattern analysis and occupant injuries and kinematics.

As a result of Detective Constable Colleen McCormick's tireless dedication to duty, strong sense of professionalism and commitment to the people she serves she is an excellent candidate and winner of the 2002 Ontario Women in Law Enforcement award for Excellence in Performance.