COP KILLERS? DEATH BECOMES THEM
Date: Jul 24, 2006 11:26 AM
PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun
DATE: 2006.07.24
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Editorial/Opinion
PAGE: 18
COLUMN: Editorial
WORD COUNT: 370
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COP KILLERS? DEATH BECOMES THEM

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We suspect that RCMP Sgt. Darren Simons was just expressing his
frustration and grief over the loss of his fellow officers, Const. Robin
Cameron and Const. Marc Bourdages.But it doesn’t change the absolute
truth of what he said.

“This kind of thing is going on too frequently, and we don’t think that
anything’s being done about it,” he said.

He means, of course, that far too many Mounties in Canada are losing
their lives at the hands of criminals who have absolutely no respect for
the law and even less for human life.

Constables Cameron and Bourdages died more than a week after being badly
wounded in a gunfight near Mildred, Sask. The suspect, Curtis Alfred
Dagenais, later surrendered to police. Their deaths come only 16 months
after four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta., were brutally gunned
down by James Roszko. There have been too many other tragedies in recent
years of RCMP officers making the ultimate sacrifice while doing their
duty to maintain law and order.

So Sgt. Simons is right. Particularly since there are eerie parallels
between Dagenais and Roszko — both men had long histories with the
police, including previous convictions.

Implicit in Sgt. Simons’ frustration, however, is the question of what
needs to be done to help protect our men and women in uniform — RCMP,
OPP, Toronto police — all of them.

There is no single solution. But there is one thing that Prime Minister
Stephen Harper and his government should consider. In order to send the
strongest possible message that Canada has absolutely no sympathy for
those who defy the law to a degree that it ends up with a police or RCMP
officer losing his or her life in the course of their duties, Canada
should bring back the death penalty for cop killers.

It’s glib to say police officers know the risks associated with their
jobs. The average Canadian has no idea what those risks entail — we
don’t have to go to a stranger’s home on a call wondering if they’ve
got
an unregistered, unlicensed gun inside that can cause havoc; we don’t
have to engage in high-speed chases while bullets fly; we don’t have to
go to work every day thinking it might be our last.

Cops put their lives on the line for Canadians.

It’s time Canadians sent the message to criminals that if they take the
life of a cop, they forfeit their own.