Niagara Regional Police have identified the officer who suffered serious but non- l ifethreatening injuries in Tuesday’s Niagara Gorge incident.

Const. Jacob Smits underwent emergency surgery Wednesday morning at Hamilton General Hospital for a broken femur, said NRP spokesman Const. Derek Watson,

Smits fell into the gorge off of River Rd. along with 18-year-old Ryan Dube after a foot chase. Dube was pronounced dead at the scene.

Smits was airlifted to Hamilton Tuesday evening.

Niagara Region Po l i c e Association president Paul DiSimoni said even though the officer is going to be OK, any incident like this will have an effect on the force.

“It certainly brings an element of humanity to the entire circumstance. You just never know when things will happen or what ( situation) you will find yourself in,” he said. “It’s a sobering experience.”

DiSimoni said the service and the association will pull together in a “family effort” to help the injured officer and his family.

He described Smits as “certainly not a senior officer” but wouldn’t describe him much further.

He said he doesn’t believe the injury to be career- ending and expects to see Smits back on duty in the future. “We’re hoping and expecting he will make a full recovery and return to frontline duty,” he said.

Ontar io ’s Spec ia l Investigations Unit is continuing its investigation.