Patrice “la police” Gregoire said that he dreamed of being a police officer from the time he was a young child. “I was six years old when my sister married a provincial policeman,” Gregoire said, describing the 6’3” officer as a towering presence in his secluded childhood home near Victoriaville. “I knew right off that that I wanted to be a cop, and I managed to do it too.” Now months retired from a career in police work that spanned nearly four decades and saw him serve on police forces at the municipal, provincial, and national level, Gregoire looks back positively on his experiences, even if he says the work let him see the darkest parts of humanity. “It’s almost 38 years altogether,” he reflected. “Nine months a city cop, six years a Mountie, and the rest SQ. I wouldn’t do anything different.” Those who know him, however, are already aware that the former policeman’s retirement has him serving in a role many would see as being quite different; that of a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. See full story in the Monday, Sept. 9 edition of The Record.
