POLICE DEATHS SHOULD BE A WAKE UP CALL

Four families mourn the loss of loved ones with the sudden shooting deaths
of four RCMP officers during a drug raid in Mayerthorpe last week.

To say that these shootings -- performed by a single gunman with a
high-powered rifle -- represent a horrid loss of life would be an
understatement. This incident is the single largest loss of RCMP lives since
the 1885 Northwest Rebellion and should serve as a reminder to everyone
about the inherent dangers every time law enforcement officers put on a
uniform.

Our thoughts go out to all of the family members, co-workers and friends of
those four officers who died at that remote residence. Our thoughts also go
out to the family members of officers at our local RCMP detachment. These
shootings must be a distressing, if unnecessary, reminder of the risks their
loved ones must take everyday in the line of duty.

There will be calls for tighter regulations on marijuana-grow operations,
and some people may even rain misguided criticism down on the RCMP
procedures that could let four of its members be apparently shot down by a
single man.

This is not the time for those discussions. That time will come when the
dust has settled and experts have a chance to closely examine what happened
that fateful day.

It is time to raise awareness -- about the daunting task rural RCMP
detachments must undertake with limited resources and escalating crime
levels. It is also timely to point out that governments have neglected to
acknowledge these policing challenges where it counts most, in their
budgets.

More than our thoughts, law enforcement in rural Alberta have our pledge to
advocate for increased resources so that they can perform their job with a
higher degree of safety.

- -T.W.