A sergeant from Longueuil who is the oldest police officer in service in Canada is taking a deserved retirement after 58 years protecting the population, arresting bandits and solving investigations without ever losing the flame for his profession.
Sergeant Lionel Bourdon, 78, recalled this afternoon the feeling that filled him when he put on his uniform for the first time in June 1965: “It was a pride to wear it, especially when you always wanted to be a policeman.”
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Lionel Bourdon in 1965.
At the time, he was earning $72 a week, he recalled with a smirk.
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“He never got up one morning saying he wasn’t tempted. It never happened”, proudly underlined his wife, Francine Bonin-Bourdon, who has seen all the colors over the years.
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Lionel Bourdon as he left for work, in March 1968.
The last call
This afternoon, his colleagues from the Longueuil agglomeration police department organized a guard of honor for his retirement under the traditional sound of bagpipes.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montreal / QMI Agency
Even colleagues from several other police forces, including the Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Montreal Police Service, and the cavalry traveled to the South Shore for the occasion.
Lionel Bourdon took the megaphone from a police car and said symbolically: “10-19”, which means “call over” in Quebec police jargon.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montreal / QMI Agency
“I can’t believe it, I’m going to have to sort it all out. This is the first time I’ve seen a goodbye like this. I think they really went all out,” said the sergeant, who has held several positions during his impressive career, including 13 years in criminal investigations.
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The policeman while working on forensic identification in 1968.
The investigation that marked him the most was undoubtedly the Wells Fargo case in 1978. At the time, six armed men had kidnapped the manager of a branch in Longueuil as well as members of his family and the had forced open the safe to steal at least a million dollars.
“We worked with the Sûreté du Québec because it was too big. It was very interesting, I learned a lot during this period,” said the sergeant.
A youthful dream
As far back as he can remember, Lionel Bourdon dreamed of becoming a policeman. “When I was young, I lived in front of the station in Longueuil and every day, I saw the police arrive, return at the end of their shift. We knew them, because the town was small, we spoke with them,” he says.
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The policeman still succeeded with flying colors in the shooting exercises.
In 58 years, “everything has changed” in his job, believes the one who was recently sergeant in the road safety squad. He cites as examples the analysis of DNA to solve investigations, the firearms and radars that have evolved as well as the arrival of women in the positions at the turn of the 80s.
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A snowmobile squad in the 70s.
“At first [de ma carrière], the town was small and we did foot patrol on Saint-Charles Street. We met the merchants, we went to check that their doors were locked at night. There was a different closeness,” he recalls.
Despite his last shift today, Mr. Bourdon fully intends to remain involved in his profession, as he wishes to set up a police museum in Longueuil.