Moncton RCMP memorial incorporates citizens' fingerprints

People in the Moncton area are being given the opportunity to leave a mark on the memorial to three slain RCMP officers that will be unveiled on June 4.

Public sessions are being held in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe to let people imprint their fingerprint on a wax maple leaf that will be part of the memorial.

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"It felt good to know our monument will be there for the rest of time and how long that monument will be up," said Tyler LeBlanc, 13, who was among those to leave his impression at a public session in Dieppe on Thursday.

Morgan MacDonald, an artist from St. John's, came up with the idea by drawing on his experience as a child, remembering when police came to his school and let the students ink their fingers to learn about police work.

"Where my father was a police officer, you know some of the conversations back and forth," he said.

"Then you kind of combine that memory with the art work and the sculpture that I do, I thought, you know, it was a natural fit."

MacDonald estimates 150 fingerprints will fit on the maple leaf.

"We're going to take the wax maple leaf, we're going to warm it up make the wax malleable enough so that they can press their fingerprints or thumbprints into that," he said.

"Then what's going to happen after that is the maple leaf is going to the foundry and then we're going to cast that directly in bronze and what's going to be on the monument forever."

Another session is scheduled for Thursday evening in Riverview, to be following by two sessions in Moncton.

Constables Douglas Larche, Dave Ross and Fabrice Gevaudan were slain by gunman Justin Bourque on June 4, 2014.

MacDonald won a competition to create the bronze statues depicting the three killed officers.