MSP’s Only Fallen Female Trooper Honored with I-696 Naming

MSP’s Only Fallen Female Trooper Honored with I-696 Naming
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Aug. 22, 2018)
Farmington Hills, MI- In 1982 Michigan State Police Trooper Vicki Moreau DeVries died while transporting evidence after an undercover narcotics buy.  According to the Michigan State Police Trooper Association, “Tpr. Vicki Moreau DeVries died as a result of injuries suffered when her unmarked State Police car left the roadway and overturned.
Trooper DeVries was working as an undercover narcotics officer, temporarily assigned to COMET (Combined Oakland-Macomb Enforcement Team). After having made a successful narcotics transaction with a suspected narcotics dealer, she stopped in Utica to meet with her supervisor and other narcotics officers. Due to the late hour and the fact that she was transporting evidence from the narcotics investigation, she was authorized to drive the unmarked State Police vehicle to her residence. The evidence was to be turned over to the State Police Crime Lab as soon as it opened the following morning. While she was enroute to her residence, the car left the roadway and overturned. The accident occurred on I-696

freeway in the city of Farmington Hills. Trooper DeVries was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Trooper DeVries was the 36th MSP officer to die in the line of duty.”
State Representative Christine Greig of Farmington Hills introduced House Bill 4828 to designate part of I-696 as the Vicki Moreau DeVries Memorial Highway.  Greig, who is the House Democratic Floor Leader, announced the bill’s being signed into low Wednesday, stating “Trooper DeVries was an exceptional woman who gave her life for the people of Michigan, and this designation is an important way of honoring her sacrifice. Renaming a portion of I-696 in memory of her life and her work I hope will serve not only as an inspiration to others, but as a reminder of the high cost that comes with this kind of service, and the debt of gratitude we owe to those in her line of work. Her legacy and impact has stretched far beyond her years, and I am grateful we can now honor that legacy with this memorial.”
Devries was born November 29, 1953 and died July 22, 1982. Signs will be placed on I-696 in her honor.

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