6744

If you live in Canada then you will have heard about the Windsor police officer, John Atkinson, who was gunned down and killed in the line of duty last Friday. Today was his funeral service in Windsor.

The service was shown live on CBC and I caught some of it at lunchtime. There were literally thousands of police officers there from all over North America. The whole of the Windsor police force was able to attend as 200 police officers from London volunteered to stand in for them. The fellowship and camaraderie between police from all over never ceases to amaze me. This is only matched by firefighters.

The funeral service was very moving. As I watched I was humbled and reminded of the many men and women who daily put their lives on the line so we can enjoy the freedom that we have. Police officers often are criticised, but we should remind ourselves that there are not many of us who when we leave for work are uncertain about whether we will return home safely at the end of our time there. We should be thankful that there are people who are willing to do this every day.

6744 was John Atkinson's number and many of the officers at the funeral wore black armbands with this number on it as a mark of respect.