Canadian police chiefs sound alarm over growing toll of officers killed

A group representing police leaders in Canada wants an urgent meeting with the country’s premiers to address issues including officer safety, bail reform and gun violence.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, an organization representing more than 60,000 policing professionals, sent a letter requesting the meeting to the Council of the Federation, the body representing premiers from Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.

The issues raised in the two-page letter made public on Tuesday have been highlighted by incidents in London this year.

“There are a number of items of elevated urgency, each with significant commonality and jurisdictional relevance to our collective premiers,” association president and Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth says in the letter.

The letter outlines three public safety matters Smyth says require a consistent and integrated response: violence against police officers, the need for bail reform and gun- and drug-related crimes.

“Our communities cannot have wellbeing without safety, and we must all work together to have meaningful impact,” Smyth says.

Nine Canadian police officers have been killed in the line of duty in the past six months, leading to comparisons with the United States, the letter says.

“There is no question that the degradation of discourse around policing and police funding, the lack of accountability in our justice system and the significant increase in drug, gang and gun violence have all played a part in escalating the danger for our profession,” Smyth says.

The letter comes less than a month after two London police officers were shot and injured during a 12-hour standoff with a suspect holed up inside a Kipps Lane apartment. The incident marked the first time a London police officer was shot on the job in almost two decades.

The letter from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police also raised the need for bail reform, a call that has gained support from police and politicians following the Dec. 27 shooting death of OPP Const. Grzegorz (Greg) Pierzchala, 28, west of Hagersville. One of two people charged in his death was on bail, facing gun-related charges and was under a weapons ban at the time of the shooting, court records show.

In February, now-retired London police chief Steve Williams and Ali Chahbar, chair of the city’s police board, called on the federal government to reform the way Canada’s bail system deals with repeat violent offenders and people charged with gun crimes.

Critics of the bail system have pointed to cases like the Jan. 5 armed robbery at London Gold Buyer, where company president Dan Loewith was shot and critically injured, and one of the suspects charged was on bail and under a weapons ban as part of their release conditions, court records show.

Smyth, who wasn’t available for an interview Tuesday, ends his letter with a warning that policing in Canada is at a crossroads.

“The stresses and dangers of the job, combined with the intense politicization of policing that we’ve witnessed at every level, threaten the integrity and trust in our profession and our ability to safely and ethically ensure public safety,” he says.

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