‘Our members will carry on ...’
Police association president says officers banding together
“It could be me.”
That’s the thought that goes through the minds of Niagara Regional Police officers any time one of their fellow members is seriously injured, said Niagara Regional Police Association president Cliff Priest.
“It creates apprehension … and has an affect on all of us,” Priest said Friday morning, less than 24 hours after Const. Nathan Parker was shot by fellow officer Det. Sgt. Shane Donovan of the traffic collision reconstruction unit.
According to the provincial Special Investigations Unit (SIU) the two men had some sort of altercation in the area of Effingham Street and Roland Road in Pelham just after noon Thursday.
While the SIU didn’t say which officer fired his service weapon — regional police carry .40 calibre Glock 22s — multiple police sources confirmed it was Donovan who shot Parker up to as many as five times.
Niagara Emergency Medical Services paramedics treated Parker at the scene and transferred him to a local hospital, believed to be Welland hospital, before he was later transferred to Hamilton General Hospital by Orgne air ambulance.
While it was reported that Parker was in critical condition, Priest said that was not the case.
“He was seriously injured,” said Priest, who could not talk
about any specifics related to the incident, now under investigation by the SIU.
Parker has since been upgraded to stable condition according to the SIU Friday afternoon
“All I can tell you is that whenever an officer is seriously injured in any shape, form or fashion, whether hit by a vehicle, stabbed, shot or blown up it has an adverse effect on all of our people.”
Priest said police have an inherently dangerous job day in day out, never knowing what they are responding to.
In 2015, Const. Neil Ridley was shot while on a call in Pelham, about 10 kilometres away from Thursday’s scene.
That same year, Const. Philip Sheldon was burned in an explosion after he and partner Dale Culley responded to a domestic disturbance call at a Vineland home.
“Our families are always wondering if we are coming home. It creates stress … and has a huge impact on family members.”
While incidents such as Thursday’s create stress across the service, Priest said members — all 1,050 sworn officers and civilian members — band together and help the families of those who were injured or involved in some sort of incident.
Both the police service and the police association have support systems to help officers and their families deal with stressful situations.
“We have professionals that will engage with officers and we have peer-to-peer counselling.”
Those services also apply to family members because members take home much of what they see on the street — things the general public will never see — and that affects their families, Priest said.
Different members will be affected in different ways, he said, adding something like Thursday’s incident could trigger a reaction to a past incident.
Since Thursday’s shooting, Priest said the association has been in contact with all of its members, reaching out to see if they need any assistance.
“Our members will carry on, providing policing and protecting the community. Everyone should be grateful we have a bunch of professional men and women who are prepared to risk their lives,” he said.