Police officer remembered for his ‘big heart, big smile’
Family, colleagues gather to honour well-known Ottawa staff sergeant
Hundreds gathered Thursday to remember a police officer and community leader with “a big heart, a big smile and big eyes” that lit up whenever he mentioned his three children’s names.
Staff Sgt. Kal Ghadban, a 22year veteran of the Ottawa Police Service and head of the break and enter, street crime and human trafficking units, killed himself Sunday in his office at the Elgin Street police station.
Officers stood outside the National Memorial Centre at Beechwood Cemetery in their No. 1 uniforms, embracing each other. It was the culmination of nearly a week of shock and sadness.
The blues and reds of a police escort motorcade flashed under the bright sun.
Ghadban’s first-born, Kaden, his hair neatly slicked back, stood beside his father’s friend, Insp. Mike Laviolette, and played with the freshly fallen autumn leaves on the ground with his shining dress shoes.
The silence as Ghadban’s cherrywood casket was taken out of the hearse was broken first by three seemingly loud pats from one man’s hand to another’s back as he consoled him, then by the sound of bagpipes.
Ghadban’s large Lebanese family was ushered into the memorial centre, with officers at full-salute funnelling them in for their final goodbye.
Inside, his niece described Ghadban as “the rock” of their family.
“He went by many titles — husband, staff sergeant, friend, dad — but to me he was Kal,” said Ghadban’s boss and friend, Insp. Paul Johnston.
“It’s hard to believe we are here today. And it hurts,” Johnston said, giving voice to a police force that is still looking for answers.
“Our hearts are broken, and our heads are filled with questions.”
Together they honoured their fallen — a man they described as routinely the most interesting in any room with a bravado to match.
“When you were around Kal, exciting things happened,” Johnston said.
“You arrested bad guys. You ended up buying cigars with Arnold Schwarzenegger. You hung out with the Rolling Stones. And more importantly, you helped someone in need.”
Johnston turned his attention to the front row of the service. Ghad-
It’s hard to believe we are here today. And it hurts. Our hearts are broken, and our heads are filled with questions.
ban’s wife, Nancy, was seated with her daughter, Marina, on her lap, Kaden on her left side and middle son Isaak on her right. Isaak leaned into his mother’s shoulder for support every now and then.
“He was so proud of you,” Johnston told Ghadban’s family.
“Your father loved you. And we all loved him.”
Retired Sgt. Jean Lamothe met Ghadban when he was a rookie detective, well before the officer became a face of the force. It was while investigating what officers would determine was a copycat who went on a stabbing rampage on the one-year anniversary of the Columbine shooting massacre that Lamothe said he first saw the signs of a man who was at ease in front of the camera. The police service would eventually come to rely on Ghadban to put into words what others couldn’t, to bridge a gap between the public and police.
Lamothe said his thoughts were with the two tactical officers who first responded to Ghadban’s office. Sometimes, as officers know, you get there too late, he said.
Lamothe spoke to his friend’s legacy: a man’s life can’t be defined by a single act. There is neither rhyme nor reason, he said, but together, they have to move forward.
Johnston told reporters the shooting was a “wake-up call” for police.
“He gave, he gave and he gave,” Johnston said. “For us, we’re just asking ourselves, ‘ What did we miss?’”
Police are creating a memorial fund for Ghadban’s family.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit continues to probe the circumstances of Ghadban’s death. Ottawa police have also launched a parallel investigation.
Ghadban was 43.