Const. Bruce Ballingall has made his mark on the Royal City during a 27-year career with the New Westminster Police Department.
Ballingall turned 64 on April 29 and officially started his retirement on May 1. Policing wasn't the first career choice for the native of Winnipeg, Man.
"I wanted to be a rock star," he said. "I was drumming with what became the Guess Who and guess you can say, I lost my focus. There was me, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings - we weren't called the Guess Who at the time. We were Alan and the Silvertones and the Deverons - there was two bands that became one."
Instead of becoming a rock star, Ballingall started working as a shoe buyer at Eaton's.
"A couple of my friends, their fathers were police officers. I always respected what they did," he said. "I really wanted to be a social worker. One day I came up with this idea that as a police officer, the uniform is a really awesome tool - you can use the uniform as a tool to help people."
The Winnipeg Police Department hired him in 1976, even though he had hair down to the middle of his back.
"I had to walk the beat. In Winnipeg, you didn't see inside a police car for the first two years. You walked the beat. That's how I learned to be a cop, that's how you learn to communicate with people by walking the beat - eye-to-eye, one-on-one," he said. "It was cool. I loved it."
Ballingall, who had lived on the West Coast with his family as a teenager, started work with the New Westminster Police Department in 1986.
"I wanted to continue on what I was doing - street level policing, community policing," he said. "It was always a way of approaching policing. It's about the community. You don't do anything without the community's involvement. It just doesn't work."
Though he's well known in the Royal City for his community policing initiatives, Ballingall is no stranger to the streets.
"It's happened a few times," he said about pulling his gun. "Back in the day, New West was the Wild West. There was a time that we had more bar seats per capita than any place else in North America."
In addition to being a patrol officer, Ballingall has worked as a traffic officer, crime prevention officer, station duty officer and even as a detective. He's hosted a couple of policing shows on cable and helped establish the Rock Solid anti-bullying program.
"I have been very blessed in my career to be able to do most of it on my terms. I have done everything twice because I have been around so long," he laughed. "I've worked in all sections but being in community policing/ crime prevention has always been my passion. I have put a lot of my own free time into it through the years because I believe in it. You know why I do it? My community gets it. The volunteers in New West - I have sat on a lot of provincial committees - the volunteers in New West blow every-body else away. We have true community commitment in our community. It's very unique in that. Other communities have good citizens, yeah, but ours has a plethora of good, caring citizens who really want to be involved in the community. That's why we are such a successful city."
While he could have retired a few years back, Ballingall wasn't ready to go and fought retirement.
"It used to be mandatory at 60. I thought, well that doesn't seem fair so I had some guidance, put together a legal brief and here I am," he said. "I love this community, I love being here and I love working in this community - I still have that passion but there comes a time when you have to try something different so I'm off to try something different. Maybe I will put the band back together."
Chicken Legs, as Ballingall is known to thousands of New Westminster children, has yet to decide whether he'll return to the Royal City to help out with this summer's soccer camp.
"Soccer school," he said of his proudest accomplishment. "It's one of the most successful community police programs in North America, one of the longest running, if not the longest running."
Ballingall's larger-than-life presence will be missed at the New Westminster police station.
"The thing we will notice about Bruce being gone is it will be quieter," said Chief Const. Dave Jones. "Bruce has been a big part, not only of the police department, but the community too."
While there are a lot of people who represent the police department when they're in uniform, Jones noted that Ballingall represented more than the uniform and represented it at a personal level.
"Of all the people I have come into contact with in city hall, he was the loudest - he also had the biggest heart. He's a fellow that I very much respect; I really appreciate everything he has done for the city. Cities are built sometimes with characters - and he's been a positive one," said Mayor Wayne Wright, who chairs the New Westminster Police Board. "That fella has been nothing but a positiveness for the city. He will be missed. His intention is always for somebody else."
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