Two roads in Richmond will be named after Const. Jimmy Ng, an RCMP officer who was killed in a hit and run in 2002.
Cst. Jimmy Ng Road and Cst. Jimmy Ng Place will be part of the Richmond Centre redevelopment project.
Ng was killed on duty on Sept. 15, 2002, when a car ran a red light at No. 3 Road and Williams in a street race. The driver fled the scene but was later found and given a two-year sentence.
One officer, who wanted to remain anonymous, was present at the scene when Ng was killed.
“I will never forget the radio call checking on his status and silence in return, and then the sound of the officer on the radio who first found him,” the RCMP officer remembered. “I recall running up on the crash location and seeing a yellow stripe laying on the ground and following it up.”
Jimmy Ng was looked up to by all new police officers “and his word was respected,” the officer added.
“For a senior officer to be taken from us that night made us all feel mortal,” the officer said. “He is remembered by me as a cornerstone of the C watch general duty team that we made up during those years and a role model and friend to all.”
Supt. Will Ng, Officer in Charge of the Richmond detachment, said the RCMP are “humbled” and grateful to the city for this “kind and thoughtful gesture.”
“This initiative will ensure that Jimmy's legacy of service is honoured and remembered,” said Supt. Ng.
Jimmy Ng grew up in Richmond and was a volunteer with the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Steveston.
He was sworn in as an RCMP officer on March 18, 1996 and first served in Duncan before returning to Richmond, his hometown.
The driver was sentenced to 18 months in jail for criminal negligence causing death and an additional six months for leaving the scene of an accident.
Jimmy Ng attended high school in Richmond, as well as the University of British Columbia. His final resting place is in the cemetery at Depot Division in Regina, Sask.
Retired RCMP asks for recognition of another fallen officer
When retired Staff-Sgt. George Loeppky read about the streets being named after Jimmy Ng, he felt it was an appropriate recognition but he was hoping a public recognition of another Richmond officer, killed in 1980, would also receive the same recognition.
Loeppky remembers the night Steven LeClair took a taxi to Richmond, after a shooting rampage in Vancouver, and walked into the detachment and shot Const. Tom Agar point blank.
Loeppky said he’s spoken to other retired officers “of the same vintage” who remember how Agar was killed and who would also like to see some public recognition for his service and for giving his life in the line of duty.
“My memory is still pretty vivid from a day I’d like to forget,” Loeppky said about the shooting on Sept. 19, 1980, when Agar was killed.
A cairn was placed at the RCMP headquarters at the time, but Loeppky said he’d like to see the city do something in his memory.
When the RCMP detachment moved to No. 5 Road in 2015, a red serge parade and memorial was held in honour of Agar with a rededication ceremony of the cairn at the new location.
Agar was just 26 when he was gunned down and he left behind a young child and a widow who was pregnant.
While there is an Agar Drive on Sea Island, that road is not named after the constable and predates the murder.
To have a road named after someone, a proposal can be submitted to the city’s property records clerk and city council will decide how to proceed.
