FOR THE FALLEN MOUNTIES

Let's Pause and Grieve, but Not Act in Haste

RCMP Const. Brock Myrol was introduced to the town of Mayerthorpe,
Alta., in an interview last week in the local paper under the
headline, "New officer joins the force."

Myrol told The Freelancer he was excited to join Canada's police force
and he hoped to "make a positive change in people's lives and serve
the community."

It was his first posting after graduating from the Regina police
training academy and he had just moved to town with his fiancee.

A week later, the 29-year-old rookie officer was dead, killed along
with three other officers -- Const. Leo Johnston, 33, Const. Peter
Schiemann, 25 and Const. Anthony Gordon, 28.

Mayerthorpe, a town of about 1,500 near Edmonton, calls itself a
friendly, quiet, rural community. A close community that still expects
to know its police officers by name.

The people of Mayerthorpe are in shock and mourning today. Things like
the shooting of four police officers don't happen in such a place. We
are with them in their grief. We like to think that horrific tragedies
like this don't happen anywhere in Canada.

But the sad truth is that while the number of officers killed here is
thankfully an aberration, the danger they faced is all too common.

Seven law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in
Canada in 2004, 40 died in the past five years. A few were attacked
deliberately. Most were victims of the inherent danger of their jobs.
They died in car and plane crashes. They were hit while working in
traffic.

They all died in the service of their communities, trying to make a
difference.

We are in the early stages of discovering what took place in
Mayerthorpe. Police were investigating what they believed to be a
marijuana growing operation and stolen property when the four officers
ran into lethal force for which they were not prepared.

We have already heard commentators and politicians who are prepared to
attach blame -- to weak drug laws, to underfunded police forces and to
revolving-door courts.

We also have to wonder how the suspected killer -- Jim Roszko, who was
so well-known in his community for threatening behaviour -- could have
been at large and in possession of such deadly force.

Myrol's mother Colleen, speaking to reporters on behalf of her family,
will certainly have tapped a popular vein with her call for the
federal government to "take a stand on evil" and enhance the power of
police.

But we must be careful in the next few days neither to rush to
judgment over what happened nor to allow this tragedy to be used as
the basis for legislative changes, especially since such changes are
already being debated on the basis of years of experience.

What we need to do now is simply to pause and grieve for our fallen
champions, the young officers who have given their lives in our service.

We need to thank them and send our sympathy and support to their
relatives and beloved who are just now learning about the sacrifice
they have made.