62 Year Old "Gunned Down" in Small Town Alberta

Here in Sleepy little Canmore, on Monday afternoon, the RCMP shot a man suspected of three armed robberies in a three day period. Since moving here from Vancouver over the summer, I have been amazed by how quiet and peaceful things have seemed; how wrong I was. The general consensus of course, both here and in the surrounding areas, seems to be that the officers acted correctly. However, there have been some who, even before the announcement that the suspect’s firearm was a fake, have cried out that the officers acted inappropriately, that this is further proof that the RCMP have become a dangerous law unto themselves. This clearly is not the case.

 

Contrary to what the media has claimed, about a “shoot-out,” the only shots were fired by the police. A 9mm handgun is a very dangerous weapon, in the hands of someone intent on doing harm. The police are expected to practice with their pistols regularly, and keep their skills up to a certain level to avoid what is so often euphemised into “collateral damage,” in other words, the death of innocent civilians. A sixty-something year old man, however, has no such requirement. Some in this country seem to think that this is a sign that the police are “gun-happy,” being all to ready to shoot a suspect. Had this 62 year old man started firing rounds wildly towards the police, and hit a child heading home from school, or any other innocent person who happened to be at the busy intersection, would they still be singing the same tune? Not likely. The fact is, the officers involved did the right thing.

 

Others have claimed, on several occasions, that the use of deadly force is inappropriate. They claim that shooting to kill should be a last resort; first, shoot to wound, or find a non-lethal way to incapacitate the suspect, rather than taking out the suspect. The police HAD a non-lethal weapon, designed to do just that. Remember the controversy over police in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Canada using Tasers? The claim then was it was cruel, it was dangerous, and it was unnecessary. Yet when you look at the numbers, there is a far smaller chance, almost negligible, of dying from a taser, than from two or more 9mm rounds to the chest or head. Granted, in situations like the one in question here, the taser would likely not have been a viable option in any case. The man came out of the vehicle, weapon in hand, in a confrontational, and aggressive manner. The fact that weapon turned out to be a fake is irrelevant. It looked real, and as far as they could tell the threat to innocent civilians and to themselves was real. They acted appropriately.

 

The true victims here are the establishments that were robbed at gun point; they had no way of knowing that it was a fake pistol. Also, the officers, who in doing their job keeping us safe, were forced to make a very difficult snap decision, and take a man’s life, were victimized by what appears to have ended as a suicide by police-officer. People here have been talking about the “poor man” driven to such desperate acts. He was known to police. At age sixty-two, moreover, he should have known better than to advance towards armed police officers with what appears to be a firearm. The people who deserve sympathy are the officers who were involved, and those who this man traumatized by robbing them at gun point.

 

The RCMP have been getting a lot of bad press in recent years. Particularly in British Columbia, where the Provincial Government has had an axe to grind over the number of times they have been investigated for corruption. Many in the media have portrayed these brave men and women as drunks, hot-heads, and thugs, who see themselves as being above the law. While it is true that in an organization as large as the RCMP, there are bound to be a few bad seeds, the vast majority of them go out every day, putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. By and large, it is a thankless job. They are distrusted by us civilians, who are worried they are going to report that joint smoked, or that time we jaywalked and they saw us. They are called names, like pig, or nark. People see them as the enemy, even when they themselves are not breaking the law. As soon as they need help, its “yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir, thank you very much” and then back to the distrust and disdain. It is inappropriate, short sighted, and needs to stop.

 

 I for one think that the officers who were involved in this incident deserve our thanks, and our support. They have just gone through what is no doubt a very traumatic experience. And yet, it goes with the territory, as they say, so they soldier on, put on a brave face, and go back out there to protect us from ourselves. They are the most recognizable symbol or Canada worldwide, respected everywhere, except, apparently, here at home. It is time to change that. We as a nation need to show our thanks to these courageous men and women more often. Not just when they are helping us get our car out of a snow-bank, or standing on parade at a Remembrance Day ceremony. Take a moment to think about what life would be like if we did not have police, think seriously, and after realising how important that silent minority is to our safety, say thank you.