Thousands pay tribute to former Northumbria officer
THOUSANDS of mourners attended the funeral of a former Northumbria Police Officer who was shot and killed on duty whilst serving as a Police Officer in Canada.
John Davidson, 53, died in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on 6 November 2017.
He was an officer with Northumbria Police from 1993 for 12 years before emigrating to Canada with his wife and three children.
He then joined Abbotsford Police and served as a Constable with them until his death. He was highly respected by both his colleagues and the community he served.
Family members joined more than 8,000 others at an arena in Abbotsford on Sunday 19 November 2017 for John’s memorial service. John’s Northumbria Police helmet sat proudly on the centre of his coffin during the entire service.
Northumbria Police were represented at the service by Temporary Chief Constable Winton Keenen, Northumbria Police Federation Chairman Jim Gray, and DC Keith Howells, who worked with John and was a close friend of his.
Jim said: “It was important that we all went, on behalf of all of us in Northumbria Police, to show our respect and gratitude for his service both in the UK and in Canada, to pay our respects to his family and to give our condolences directly to them, which we did, in order to show that there was a great and deep swathe of emotion here in Northumbria that we have here for John and what happened to him, particularly those of us who knew John and worked with him.
“He was 12 years with Northumbria and 12 years with Abbotsford Police. It’s important that those 12 years with us weren’t forgotten.
“We were warmly welcomed by John’s Canadian colleagues, the community of Abbotsford, and by his family, and I hope that by going there we helped them in some way realise that there’s a lot of people in Northumbria who were thinking about John and wishing his family well and hoping they can get through the awful challenge which they’re going through right now.”
John performed a number of uniformed roles in Northumbria, including working in Newcastle’s East End and North Tyneside, and with Motor Patrols. Those who knew John, know him to be a principled and highly professional Police Officer. Among his achievements with Northumbria Police was receiving a commendation for preventing a suicidal woman from jumping into a river.
John’s family are being supported by the ‘Police & Peace Officers’ Memorial Ribbon Society’, a Canadian organisation, whose purpose is to assist the families of fallen Police Officers, as well as to help establish memorials and monuments to them, and provide scholarships to their children. For more information go to www.memorialribbon.com
Jim added: “Following John’s funeral, the Temporary Chief Constable, Keith and I brought back with us a number of Canadian Police Memorial Ribbons, to sell them and deliver the proceeds to the Police & Peace Officers’ Memorial Ribbon Society so they can continue to assist John’s family.
If you would like to purchase a Memorial Ribbon (inset), they are available at the Command Team Reception Desk on 2nd Floor at Middle Engine Lane. We suggest a contribution of £2 per ribbon. Once all of the ribbons are sold, we will pass the proceeds on to the Police & Peace Officers’ Memorial Ribbon Society in Canada.