Pubdate: Sat, 05 Mar 2005 Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rochfort+Bridge (Rochfort Bridge) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) POLICE OFFICERS SHOT Time To Mourn In the early hours after a shocking tragedy like Thursday's shooting deaths of four RCMP officers there is always confusion and misinformation. Some of what is reported in the media concerning events and how they happened is little more than informed speculation. Based on what they have heard, or think they know, people are asked to comment on the meaning and implications of the tragedy. It has been no different in the case of the deaths of these four young officers, shot at a farm outside the hamlet of Rochfort Bridge, Alta.. Their deaths were immediately linked to, among other things, a need for tougher penalties for large-scale marijuana growers, a plague of big city criminals invading small towns and the case for tighter gun regulation. Within 24 hours it was becoming clear that some of those associations didn't apply, and that not enough was known to be sure about others. What we do know is that four men who were doing their jobs, trying to keep their community safe, were murdered. We can say for certain that there is no bringing back Const. Brock Myrol, Const. Leo Johnston and the two officers whose names had not been released at our deadline yesterday. They will be sorely missed by their families, friends and the people of the villages where they were stationed. We are also reminded that policing is a dangerous occupation. Not the most dangerous. Of the 1,000 people who die on the job in Canada in an average year, it is unusual if more than two or three are police officers. But other job-related deaths are accidental. Only police officers go to work every day knowing there is a chance they will come across someone who may kill them. What happened in Alberta on Thursday is the extreme outcome of that daily possibility. However it happened, whatever those officers were doing or thinking before they were gunned down, the awful incident is a reminder of how much we all owe the police for putting themselves in that position. They are on the side of the law; without them we could not rely on the law to protect us from what lurks on the other side. Their deaths are also a reminder, however, that the law can't protect everyone in every situation. And police officers can't always protect us, or even themselves, from people like Jim Roszko. Roszko is believed to have been growing marijuana at his property and had been convicted in the past of using it as a "chop shop" where stolen cars were dismantled for parts. Police have not yet said exactly how all of that figured into the arrival of the four officers at Roszko's ranch Thursday afternoon. What Roszko's neighbours, and his father, have confirmed is that he was a dangerous, bitter man who hated the RCMP and owned a cache of guns. He was, according to his 80-year-old father, "a wicked devil." Roszko turned out to be worse than that. He was -- and in this case the cliche proved tragically accurate -- every police officer's worst nightmare: A man who was ready to kill and willing to die. The Jim Roszkos of the world are the reason police sometimes appear to go overboard when dealing with potentially dangerous situations. They are the reason Peterborough police shut down a neighbourhood street last week and called out the full emergency response team when a woman reported there were guns in her home and her teenage son was threatening to shoot himself. What could be seen as over-caution was a minor annoyance for the neighbourhood; too little caution might have been fatal. Officers should never be expected to take that chance, not with their own lives or the lives of others. There will be plenty of time to review what happened on that Alberta farm, and the RCMP should release all details of events leading up to the murders and of the actual shootings. If there are lessons to be learned from what happened, the public, not just the police, should know what they are. For the moment, it is enough to mourn the fallen men, sympathize with their families, and pay respect to all police officers for the job they do. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom