People are talking about the funeral of the police officer killed in the line of duty. Not so much about the expense. But about what they perceive to have been a spectacle.
There is discomfort abroad. No lack of appreciation of the tragedy. Nevertheless,. a feeling that the spectacle distracted from the reality of a life lost. Feelings are being quietly and thoughtfully expressed.
No-one wants to convey a lack of sympathy for the family. It's there alright. Most people can identify with the loss.
But there is an unfortunate qualification. Why should it be different for a police officer than for another man. The disquiet is not centered on the expense, so much as it is on the excess.
There is sympathy for the family of the fifteen year old who is alleged to have caused the policeman's death and is understood to be paralysed from his injuries.
There is scant support for the decision of the Crown Attorney to file a charge of first-degree murder against the boy.
So we have a public reaction. It's quiet but adverse and was bound to come.
When the Police Chiefs of Canada persuaded politicians to institutionalise a charge of murder against any person who appeared to be responsible for the death of a police officer, it was a matter of time before such a charge would be seen to be completely unacceptable.
I believe , in York Region, this is the time.
At this point, the law comes into disrepute. It does not accomplish what the Police Chiefs anticipated when they decided how the law should be written and the politicians acquiesced
It does the opposite.
The fifteen-year old and his family are in people's thoughts. How can they not be? What parent of a fifteen-year old , in all honesty can separate him or herself from the situation?
Even a police officer parent could find themselves in that incredibly poignant position.
There's enough grief to go around, that's for sure.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
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3 comments:
I am one who is mystified by the excessive, over-the-top reactions to deaths of police officers. While I acknowledge the tragedy and feel tremendous sympathy for the losses and those on whom they have an impact, I do not understand the need for a military tattoo attended by thousands with endless media coverage to boot.
My son commented, "Anyone who decides to be a police officer has to understand the risks. If the risk is too great, decide on a different career." There are many jobs that involve huge risk; I wonder at the men and women who hang in the sky operating huge cranes with precision. Without them, there would be no high rise buildings on which we depend for living and business. They are just as indispensable as the police service yet we would not organize a massive display of mourning for them and pay every kind of media to provide hours of coverage. There are many more dangerous jobs that people carry out quietly on a daily basis, which do not draw the type of reaction that we have witnessed twice in the GTA this year.
I don't get it. Yes it is sad - very very sad and I wish it hadn't happened but I really don't get it. On the one hand we question the brutality of the police at the G20 debacle and on the other hand we elevate them on pedastels as saints. When it comes down to it, they are only mortals who happened to choose a particularly risky career. There are good (the likes of constable Styles) and bad (the badgeless cowards who let loose during the G20). It is the same everywhere so why the excessive response?
The cost? Now that's another discussion because I don't get that either.
Catharsis can be healing and good for the
soul despite the periodic overload of
symbolism.
Anonymous 8:17 a.m.
There are all sorts of problem areas in
Canadian society that merit your thoughtful
attention. Is the funeral of a young cop that
high on your priorities ?
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