'The system needs to change': Police associations join forces to decry officers' deaths

There is a "growing wave of violence against police and the communities they serve and protect," said four of Canada's largest police associations in a joint statement released two days after the funeral for Const. Greg Pierzchala.

Pierzchala, a newly-minted member of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), died on Dec. 27, 2022 after being shot while responding to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville, about 45 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. He was 28 years old.

Pierzchala was the fifth officer to die in the line of duty in Canada in 2022, and the fourth to die on the job in Ontario in the last four months.

"We cannot allow the deaths of five of our members to go unchallenged," the Canadian Police Association, the Police Association of Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police Association, and the Toronto Police Association said in the statement.

"Instead," said the associations, which collectively represent more than 60,000 police officers, "we can and must honour their sacrifice by identifying the issues that led to this unacceptable wave of violence."

Const. Andrew Hong, 48, of the Toronto Police Service was fatally shot in a Mississauga, Ont., coffee shop on Sept. 12.  A month later, both Const. Morgan Russell, 54, and Const. Devon Northrup, 33, of the South Simcoe Police Service died in hospital after responding to a call at a home in Innisfil, Ont., on Oct. 11.

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Across the country a week later, Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, of the RCMP was stabbed to death in Burnaby, B.C., while working on a mental health and outreach team.

"Losing one police officer is obviously losing one too many," said the joint statement. 

The associations say they plan to conduct reviews and research to better understand what is and isn't working in the existing public safety and judicial systems over the coming "days, weeks, and months."

"Everything will be on the table," according to the statement, "from bail to sentencing, to enhancing Crime Stoppers, to a growing and chronic shortage of police officers."

Calls for changes to the bail system were revived last week following Pierzchala's death, which OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said "should never have happened" given the alleged shooter was out on bail and had a lifetime ban from owning a firearm.

The associations say they intend to involve communities in their work, which they plan to turn into recommendations they hope governments of all levels will act upon.

"Our members need to be safe. Our communities need to be safe. The system needs to change. And it needs to change now," the associations said.