ONTARIO – Police work across the province came to a halt Friday in honour of a fallen comrade, Ontario Provincial Police constable Vu Pham.
Killed in the line of duty on Monday, March 8, an OPP funeral was held at 1 p.m. in the community of Wingham, about 130 kms north of London.
Part of the ceremony was a moment of silence at 1:10 p.m. At that time, OPP officers from across Ontario paused from their duties to take part.
Those in cruisers pulled over and flashed their lights for the moment of silence.
The ceremony itself was an outpouring of support for the friends and family of the 37-year-old constable. More than 5,000 police officers, 1,500 of them from the OPP, attended the ceremony along with an outpouring of residents from Huron County, where Pham was stationed.
“I’ve never seen a community come out like this,” said Sgt. Dave Rektor of the Western Region Headquarters of the OPP. “It was quite likely 8,000 people in attendance when you include all the people on the street. It was just a wall of people about five or six deep who came out to watch the procession.”
Thousands of police officers from across North America attended the ceremony, with delegations from every province and nearly every municipal force in Ontario along with officers from police forces in the United States.
The North Huron Wescast Community Complex in Wingham, which includes an arena, was used to handle the large gathering with the ice surface covered with plywood to provide extra seating.
Still, that wasn’t nearly enough to contain the outpouring of support, with space in the arena being limited to only 2,300.
“It is probably the largest OPP presence at any given funeral in the history of the OPP,” said Rektor.
“For those of us who are directly or indirectly affected by this it gives us great comfort to see this sort of outpouring. . . The show of gratitude from people just wanting to hug us and let us know that what we do is appreciated meant so much to the officers. . . I don’t think there was a police officer there who had a dry eye,” said Rektor.
Pham’s wife, Heather Pham spoke during the emotional funeral offering a message of forgiveness.
“As hard as it is, I believe forgiveness is the only way to release us from the pain and the anger,” she said. “God has freely offered us forgiveness. To the best of my human ability, with God’s help, I will offer it as well. My hope and my prayer is that all of you will do the same. I know it’s what Vu would have wanted.”
In attendance was the Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino, who both spoke during the two-hour-long service.
McGuinty directly addressed Pham’s three boys, Tyler, 12, Jordan, 10, and Joshua, 7.
“Our world needs more people just like your dad; just like you boys will be,” McGuinty said.
Pham was killed while on duty, shot by a suspect he had pulled over. Pham and his family have strong connections to the Almaguin region. He lived there for a brief time at the end of his high school career, met his wife there and three siblings still call the area home. His father Dan Thompson was pastor a Bethel Pentecostal Church for more than a decade.
Almaguin Highlands OPP detachment commander Stacey Whaley says eight officers from his detachment were in attendance at the funeral. The North Bay Police Service sent six officers, including police chief Paul Cook. The West Parry Sound detachment, where Pham started his policing career in 1995, also sent a strong contingent of officers.