TOWN UNITES, VOWS TO DO BETTER

Death 'An Unfortunate Event That Changed Our Community for The
Better,' Mayor Says

Hay River pastor Vivian Smith does not believe in revenge.

For the most part, she was sad when she learned Emrah Bulatci had
been convicted of first-degree murder in the 2007 death of RCMP
Const. Christopher Worden. Sad because two families have been
destroyed and all because of drugs.

Still, like most of the town's 4,000 residents, she was relieved.

"An innocent man who was upholding the law got killed. A child is
without a father, a wife is without a husband, and sometimes justice
has to be served. It really does," she said. "Healing is coming.

"We have prayed and prayed that lessons will be learned from
everything that has happened. What we want for this town is a drug-free town."

To do her part, Smith has worked with fellow pastor Dean Steel to
bolster services offered by the Hay River Community Youth Centre.

Steel, who presided over the memorial for Worden after his death, has
since become a director at the youth centre.

Worden's death "made us more aware of the drug problem in our
community," he said. "It has revealed an ugly underside."

As a result, Steel said the community has come together to offer more
services at the youth centre, which functions as a drop-in for
roughly 150 youth each week. There, they get the opportunity to
connect with healthy adults and entertain themselves.

"I think the kids are more aware of what can happen, but I'm not sure
if we've seen a dramatic drop in drug use," Steel said. "There is
still, obviously, a supply, and people are still doing drugs. We just
try to work with the kids and we try to work with the families. It's
all about education and prevention."

Steel said there is satisfaction in knowing the justice system worked
in this case, but like Smith, he said it is tinged with sadness.

"Drugs literally destroy the lives of those who use them, and those
who distribute them," he said. "(Bulatci) destroyed Chris Worden's
family, but he also destroyed his own family."

Hay River Mayor Kelly Schofield said the "community feels a great
sense of relief that this chapter of the book has been closed." He
said Bulatci was an outsider "fuelling the drug trade in Hay River."

Const. Worden's death "was an unfortunate event that changed our
community for the better," the mayor said. "It opened everyone's
eyes to what was truly happening in this town."

Local MP Jane Groenewegen said the community is relieved the jury
came back with a verdict of first-degree murder, instead of
manslaughter. "People wanted to see justice done," she said. "We lost
a member of our community, a member of the RCMP, and they feel that
the maximum change and the maximum penalty are necessary here."

Local leaders have also found many ways to remember the sacrifice
Worden made, through a high-school scholarship and an annual
memorial. They may even name a street after the young father, she said.