William “Bill” Wallace
Served 1959-1990
William “Bill” Wallace was born in Fort Frances Ontario in 1936. He moved to Toronto and Owen Sound before he met Marilyn. Then they moved to Hamilton, where they had two children, Cathy and David. He joined the Hamilton Police in 1959 and obviously enjoyed his work. He became a very well-known Detective Sergeant. He was the driving force behind a number of successful criminal investigations.
When Bill retired in 1960, Superintendent (later Chief) Ken Robertson said “He was what every detective tries to emulate. He had ‘street sense’, he was good with the street people, a good rapport with the criminals, very trusted by the criminals he dealt with.”
In 1963 Bill had a very inauspicious beginning. According to a Spectator article, he was working with Bayne Henderson and they went into the Merrick Hotel on McNab Street. They left the car running and some enterprising fellow saw this as an opportunity too good to pass up.
He stole the cruiser and drove around Hamilton and Burlington and out on the Highway for an hour with police officers from multiple jurisdictions chasing him. He was eventually captured but I’m certain Chief Len Lawrence was very unhappy.
Bill is the Officer on the left side here, in his Recruit Class graduation,
being inspected by Chief Len Lawrence and Deputy Chief Gerry Reed
In 1965 Bill went to a random shooting on Dunsmure Road. He realized a three-year old girl was playing in the backyard of the culprit’s home, so he took her away to safety. This was long before the Emergency Response Unit was invented so other officers just marched in and took the man into custody.
Retired Detective Sergeant Bob Rankin remembers an incident when a murder occurred and there was no one else available and qualified to investigate. Bob learned that Bill was about to leave for the Cottage and the car was packed and his family was waiting, but Bill told them to go on without him.
His daughter Cathy also became a police officer with Hamilton. She tells me that it was very common for her Dad to miss family dinners and functions when she was growing up. He was often working or in court. She remembers a Christmas Dinner that was just being served when he received a call and then he was gone.
That would most likely have been the fire on December 25, 1976 at the Wentworth Arms Hotel at Main and Hughson. The Hotel was destroyed, and six people died during the fire. Bill was manager of that investigation and Ken Robertson was one of his Detectives. They identified and arrested Vaughn Copp, 26years old, for this terrible incident, but he was judged to be insane at the time of the crime.
During another investigation Bill was back working with Bayne Henderson and he is shown here carrying away some evidence,
One pastime that was obviously very important to Bill was singing. He was a member of the Hamilton Police Men’s Chorus and sang with great enthusiasm.
Front Row L-R: Vic Zwirewich, Lloyd Larson, Peter Bontje, Herb Allen, Director Fred Christmas, Len Lawrence, Director Dick Marshall, Frank Cole, Alex Vance, Ron Day, Paul Beshley, Keith Farraway, Ralph Gibson, Pete Allard, Bill Morris, Ken Lamb
Back Row L-R: Roy Johnston, Walt Jewell, Bill Winterbottom, Dunc Gent, Lou Kingerley, Bob Arnott, Roy Merritt, Paul Gibson, Tiger Groves, Peter McKid, Jim McMurrich, Dave Stewart, Bill Wallace, Wm. Brooks, Larry Donat, George Glegg
Front Row L-R: Bill Winterbottom, Al Corbett, Tom Fitzgerald, Darryl Buckle, Herb Allen, Roy Johnston, Bas Downey, Bill Wallace, Bruce McGillvary (Magoo)
2nd Row L-R: Mike Bidulka, James Elliott, Ron Coomber (young kipper), Dunc Gent, Vic Zwirewich, Bob Moses, Colin Millar, Keith Farraway
3rd Row L-R: Paul Skinulis, Lou Kingerley, Fred Mueller, Bill Lawrence, Alex Vance, Bob Balnaves, Ken Lamb, Bob Nelson
4th Row L-R: Brian Howe, Fred Brewer, John Grivich, Ed Forteski, Charlie Skeates, Paul Gibson, Ed Brooks, Pete Allard, ?, ?
Front Row L-R: Lou Kingerly, Roy Merritt, Lloyd “Moose” Larson, Vic Zwirewich, ?, Dunc Gent, Ken Lamb, Ron Crooker, ?, Pete Allard
Back Row L-R: George Bassett, Paul Skinulis, John Grivich, Peter Bontje, Bill Winterbottom, Bob Arnott, Clyde
“Tiger” Grove, Peter McKid, Dave Matteson, Roy Johnson, Herb Allan, Walt Jewell, Bill Wallace, Ralph Gibson, George Glegg
L-R: Lou Kingerly, Bob Arnott, Peter Bontje, George Bassett, Ralph Gibson, Vic Zwirewich, Tom Gent, Herb Allen, Dunc Gent, Bill Wallace, Sid Millin, Keith Farraway, Bob Balnaves, Peter Allard, Alex Vance, Rudy Ruhloff
Bill continued with his Detective work throughout all these performances of course. An 18-month investigation with the RCMP enabled him to break open a $5-million trust fund fraud, also in 1976. This resulted in the conviction of lawyer Henry Katz.
He found the lead that solved the vicious Jimmy Bicknell murder in 1974. That victim had been stabbed 20 times. Bill told the Spectator reporter that “my success was entirely because of some of the men I worked with, who trained me. They were all excellent policemen.” He went on to say that he always tried to keep a perspective on his work and retain his sense of humour.
Bill had some serious health problems in the late 80’s and retired after 30 years of service. He moved to his Cottage and stayed there, golfing until the end.
By Dave Bowen, Retired Inspector, Hamilton Police Service