Those in Vernon will have seen this in today's paper on the front page today. Its pretty sad when an auxiliary officer killed in the line of duty is not added to the list of Canadian police and peace officers memorial in Ottawa. the city of Vernon has tried 3 times now. Now an auxiliary officer from surrey has set up a petition and hopes that this time Ottawa will open their eyes and maybe read what we have to say. Please sign the petition these officers are out there night after night helping the rcmp as most cities and towns are so short staffed with the right amount of rcmp members.
website address is http://www.surreyauxiliary.org/petition/
Evely support going online By Richard Rolke Feb 05 2007 Vernon Morningstar
The organizer of an online petition hopes to generate enough support to have a Vernon police officer recognized on a national memorial. Dave Langlands, an auxiliary police officer in Surrey, is so disappointed that Glen Evely has not been added to the Canadian Police and Peace Officers Memorial in Ottawa that he’s launched a campaign to try and change that. “I’m telling more and more people about it,” he said of the petition, which can be found at www.surreyauxiliary.org/petition.
Evely, who was an auxiliary officer within the Vernon RCMP, died Nov. 13, 2004 when the police cruiser he was a passenger in was struck by a stolen vehicle on 30th Avenue. The RCMP have attempted three times to have Evely included on the national memorial, but the committee that oversees the monument has denied the bids, saying it’s only for full-time officers and not auxiliary officers. In fact, the committee went as far as amending its criteria in December to ensure auxiliary officers aren’t named. Langlands can’t understand why the committee is taking such steps. “I was pretty upset that someone behind a desk down east decided what we do isn’t dangerous enough to be on the memorial,” he said.
According to Langlands, auxiliary officers may volunteer their time, but they provide crucial assistance to the police force and they do put their lives on the line. “People don’t understand what we do. When we’re in uniform, we are peace officers and this memorial is for peace officers,” he said. “It may not be part of our job but it may be harder because we have to gain the respect of the (regular) members. We have to be well trained and do it properly.”
Langlands is encouraging residents to sign the petition as a way of putting pressure on the committee. “I will take it directly to the board if need be.” Langlands never met Evely, but he is committed to ensuring Evely’s dedication to the community is honoured. “When you join the auxiliary program, you are part of a family and you look after your brothers and sisters,” he said.
1 comment:
This is arguably one of the most outrageous things I've ever heard of. It also suggests that perhaps the selection process for inclusion in the memorial should be regulated directly by the government, since the private selection body appears to lack the maturity and judgment to leave their petty prejudices behind and act based on the merits.
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