Colleen McCormick - Law Enforcement Professional of the Year

It is not often that a police officer with less than 10 years service can achieve the respect of her peers and admiration of those senior to her in that short time. But our law enforcement professional of year has achieved just that.

Detective Constable Colleen McCormick joined the Ontario Provincial Police in 1993. She brought with her a wealth of training, education, research and experience as an investigator/researcher working with Transport Canada investigating and reconstructing fatal and personal injury collisions primarily for research into safety standards of motor vehicles. Colleen holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alberta and another from the University of Waterloo where she majored in Genetics and Molecular Biology. She worked as a nurse in the Northwest Territories and Toronto and as a Health Educator before joining the OPP.

Since becoming a police officer Colleen has used her expertise in the field of accident reconstruction to investigate many benchmark cases. Her investigative skills have assisted her detachment colleagues to develop Crown Briefs, to assist other crime unit members with surveillance and to collect and preserve physical evidence at the scenes of crime. Crown Attorneys respect her for her commitment to detail in her investigations and her ability to describe in concise yet understandable terms the details of her investigations. The quality of her investigations is of the highest calibre.

In a benchmark case Detective Constable McCormick was able to prove a staged fatal accident was actually a homicide through her role as a bloodstain pattern analyst. This investigation was featured on the Discovery Channel's 'Exhibit A' series and changed the Coroner's protocol for the province of Ontario.

Colleen has attended many specialized courses on the subjects of bloodstain pattern analysis, forensic pathology and accident reconstruction.

Colleen is diligent in her thoroughness, professional at all times, tireless in her dedication and has a strong sense of professionalism and commitment. All this and a wonderful sense of humour and caring nature for her co-workers. Detective Constable Colleen McCormick is now qualified for promotion within the OPP to the rank of Sergeant.

Colleen is a true professional and highly deserving of the title of Law Enforcement Professional of the Year for 2002.