An Ontario police officer who lost his life in the line of duty 96 years ago in Peterborough will have a bridge dedicated in his name on Friday (May 3).
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) commissioner Thomas Carrique will participate in the bridge dedication ceremony for provincial constable Norman F. Maker late Friday morning at the Peterborough Drill Hall / Armoury National Historic Site of Canada at 222 Murray Street in downtown Peterborough.
Born in Devonshire, England in 1896, Maker was a decorated soldier who served with the British expeditionary forces during World War I and came to Canada in 1920. He joined the Oshawa police service and was a detective with the Canadian National Railway prior to his appointment to the OPP in 1922, starting at the Belleville detachment and moving to the Peterborough detachment in 1924.
OPP commissioner General Williams chose Maker as one of the two officers to act as special escorts to the Prince of Wales during the official opening of the new International Peace Bridge on August 7, 1927 between Canada and the United States.
On May 3, 1928, Maker and the local provincial officer responsible for enforcing the Ontario Temperance Act were called to the Montgomery House Hotel in response to a report of a man threatening people with a gun.
Originally passed in 1916 to prohibit the sale of alcohol in the province, the Ontario Temperance Act was overturned in 1927 with the passage of the Liquor Control Act — which also established the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) — but drinking in public establishments remained illegal until seven years later.
When the two officers arrived at the hotel and confronted the suspect, he admitted he had a gun and would give it to them, and then ran up a flight of stairs to his room. As the officers followed up the stairs, the suspect emerged from his room, pulled out his concealed revolver, and fired point blank at the two officers.
As the officers retreated down the stairs, the suspect pursued them and fired again, hitting and killing Maker and wounding the other officer. After the suspect fled, the Peterborough police chased him and, as he was attempting to shoot the officers, was fatally shot.
Maker was 32 years old and married with two daughters, one three months old and the other three years old. At the time, he was the third OPP officer killed in the line of duty.
