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Nine police officers have been killed in Canada since September 2022, the latest of which was a sergeant from Ontario. Eric Muller was ambushed during a house call on May 11.
Matthew Cox, president of the Ottawa Police Association, told The Epoch Times, “It feels like there is an actual attack on the police community.” “I’ve never seen one in Canada before.”
Members of his association say they now fear going to work.
“I think the government needs to get involved and start doing more work on the crime bill,” Cox said.
He said declining respect for the police was also part of the problem.
recent deaths
Muller, 39, responded to a disturbance at a home in Bourget, Ontario, east of Ottawa, around 2 a.m. on May 11. He was with three other officers, all of whom were shot dead in what police called an “ambush.” Two other police officers suffered minor but non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect was charged with first-degree murder.
Officer Sergeant, Quebec On March 27, Maureen Breaux, 42, was stabbed to death while trying to arrest a suspect in Louisville, Kenya. She’s a mother of two and has just four days left to start her new job as her investigator.
Officer Const of Edmonton. Travis Jordan, 35, and Const. On March 16, Brett Ryan, 30, was shot dead by a 16-year-old boy during a dispute between his family members. The boy then shot himself with a gun. Ryan was pregnant with his first child.
Ontario Official Const. Grzegorz Pierrcala, 28, was shot dead on December 27 after responding to a call about a vehicle that had fallen into a ditch. Two suspects were charged with first-degree murder. One of them was out on bail at the time of the shooting.
RCMP constant Burnaby, British Columbia, Sherin Yang, 31, was stabbed to death while trying to serve an eviction notice for a man living in a tent in a local park. The man was charged with first-degree murder.
On October 11, South Simcoe Police Constables Devon Northrup, 33, and Morgan Russell, 54, shot and killed a 22-year-old man when he responded to a disturbance call at a home in Innisfil, Ontario. was done.
Ontario Police Observatory said the man was wearing a bulletproof vest and was “waiting in ambush” for officers. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Constant Andrew Hong, 48, was also ambushed and shot dead. On Sept. 12, he was on a break buying coffee for his co-workers at Tim Hortons in Mississauga, Ontario. Investigators said the man who killed him then shot three others, two of whom died, before police killed him.
Association says it needs more officers
Cox said an immediate way to improve police safety is to increase the number of police officers. Toronto Police Association president John Reed also told The Epoch Times in February that police officers were too thin to stop or deal with the recent wave of violent attacks in the city. He said.
The city approved a nearly $50 million increase to the police budget on February 15, but that would fall far short of what is needed, Reed said.
Cox said gun availability was a big issue. Most of the guns used in crime in Canada are illegally trafficked across the border from the United States. “America’s guns are a big problem,” Reed said. “This is nearly 80 percent more than the firearms seized here in Toronto.”
In January, several police associations in Ontario announced they would work together to determine the root cause of a “wave of violence” against police officers.
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