doug
Active Member
Agreed
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Officer Down (Sgt. Ryan Russell)
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
Agreed
TOareaFan
Superstar
It has been asnwered, all police officers who are killed on duty, regardless of rank or what they were doing when they were killed, are afforded a full honours funeral.....as I said above, we are just fortunate that it does not happen all that often in Toronto and our memory of previous funerals has likely faded.
If you look at the lineups of ordinary people, in very cold weather, waiting to pay their respects over the weekend I think the obvious conclusion is that the media has not gone overboard.....they are simply reflecting the mood/thoughts of the community!
doug
Active Member
Look at the lineups of people wanting to buy condos, or watch the santa clause parade.
The media even found it necessary to recap the death of a cop who was killed while on duty, because his partner was in a bar drinking...while on duty.
sjmx
New Member
Violent responses to people who are questioning why there is such a media love-in for a fallen officer are a perfect example of the tail wagging the dog. If the media were more modest in honouring the fallen officer instead of making it 'cop-a-palooza', maybe other posters on here wouldn't threaten to run over people with valid opinions with a snowplow (is that a valid response to a serious question about media responsibility?);
Considering that the Toronto Police Force abused and assaulted countless people during G20 and then the guilty officers hid behind their badges and union, I can't say that I have much respect for the "tough job that our cops do";
Is it a tough job? Sure it is but so is firefighting, nursing, being a prison guard and a sanitation worker. Some of these people die in the line of duty and get nothing but a paragraph of mention on the back page. Why the out-of-proportion cop worship in the media?? Oh, wait, I know, it's an easy media circus bandwagon to jump on to and invariably feeds itself -- it's an easy narrative to follow unlike things like police brutality, systemic corruption and other things that the SIU doesn't have the courage to properly investigate. This fallen officer has become, unfortunately, a distraction/martyr for a lot of serious questions that have been raised about the Toronto Force. My heart goes out to the officer's friends and family but I won't soon forget that those some of those same officers who marched in the parade were ruthlessly beating innocent people six months ago while the 'Force' looked the other way and tried to sweep it under the rug. Was that a funeral on Tuesday or a royal wedding? It was completely out of proportion for a worker (one of many) who died on the job. Police are valued more in the media than regular citizens and it would be nice to see the next non-cop who dies on the job get one tenth the spectacle of coverage. That just won't happen.
Considering that the Toronto Police Force abused and assaulted countless people during G20 and then the guilty officers hid behind their badges and union, I can't say that I have much respect for the "tough job that our cops do";
Is it a tough job? Sure it is but so is firefighting, nursing, being a prison guard and a sanitation worker. Some of these people die in the line of duty and get nothing but a paragraph of mention on the back page. Why the out-of-proportion cop worship in the media?? Oh, wait, I know, it's an easy media circus bandwagon to jump on to and invariably feeds itself -- it's an easy narrative to follow unlike things like police brutality, systemic corruption and other things that the SIU doesn't have the courage to properly investigate. This fallen officer has become, unfortunately, a distraction/martyr for a lot of serious questions that have been raised about the Toronto Force. My heart goes out to the officer's friends and family but I won't soon forget that those some of those same officers who marched in the parade were ruthlessly beating innocent people six months ago while the 'Force' looked the other way and tried to sweep it under the rug. Was that a funeral on Tuesday or a royal wedding? It was completely out of proportion for a worker (one of many) who died on the job. Police are valued more in the media than regular citizens and it would be nice to see the next non-cop who dies on the job get one tenth the spectacle of coverage. That just won't happen.
sjmx
New Member
Seems that 'Maggie' and her 'shoes' posting (above) was removed - probably for the profanity but I wish the moderators would simply ban stupid and ignorant people on principle.
If your response to an opinion that is critical of, or contrary to, your point of view is an insult then you should seriously question your own values. For the record, I have indicated that the incident that the officer was involved in was sad and unfortunate and my heart goes out to his family and friends. Alright?
Now that we've revisited that part of the posting that you didn't seem to notice before you had a knee jerk insulting and degrading response, let's talk about accountability.
Part of the problem in our democracy is that complex issues get washed out by easy fanfare and jingoism - as in the post-911 world where, for a period, it was sacrosanct to question why anyone might have done such a horrible thing (US foreign policy?); There, the narrative boiled down to "they hate democracy" and everyone was expected to rally around and not question the deeper narratives and history that led up to that incident.
You will note, I hope, that I am not disparaging the fallen officer here but I am highly suspect of a massively out of proportion media frenzy that overshadows everything else -- including the very real accountability issues pertaining to G20;
Why does the entire city not mourn when other workers are killed in the line of doing their job?
Questioning these issues and values is not in any way dishonouring the officer killed. I would hope that the officer stood for civic equality and respect for all citizens.
Funeral, yes please. Massive media circus that shuts down half the city and monopolizes the news for a week??? Please. I'd just like some balance -- the media response to this is way too much and borderline disturbing.
If your response to an opinion that is critical of, or contrary to, your point of view is an insult then you should seriously question your own values. For the record, I have indicated that the incident that the officer was involved in was sad and unfortunate and my heart goes out to his family and friends. Alright?
Now that we've revisited that part of the posting that you didn't seem to notice before you had a knee jerk insulting and degrading response, let's talk about accountability.
Part of the problem in our democracy is that complex issues get washed out by easy fanfare and jingoism - as in the post-911 world where, for a period, it was sacrosanct to question why anyone might have done such a horrible thing (US foreign policy?); There, the narrative boiled down to "they hate democracy" and everyone was expected to rally around and not question the deeper narratives and history that led up to that incident.
You will note, I hope, that I am not disparaging the fallen officer here but I am highly suspect of a massively out of proportion media frenzy that overshadows everything else -- including the very real accountability issues pertaining to G20;
Why does the entire city not mourn when other workers are killed in the line of doing their job?
Questioning these issues and values is not in any way dishonouring the officer killed. I would hope that the officer stood for civic equality and respect for all citizens.
Funeral, yes please. Massive media circus that shuts down half the city and monopolizes the news for a week??? Please. I'd just like some balance -- the media response to this is way too much and borderline disturbing.
cdr108
Senior Member
simply put ... RATINGS.
if one station covers it, all of them do, otherwise they will be considered anti-police, inconsiderate, uncompassionate, etc, etc, etc. as has been clearly demonstrated by some of the responses you are getting.
doug
Active Member
...as opposed to living in your big bubble of corruption?
I guess you're another one of those who can't debate rationally, and must attack instead. Bravo.
BTW, are there any cops actually on duty, "protecting" us, today?
Juan_Lennon416
Senior Member
I assume many people from the '13 Priority Neighbourhoods' do not care about the Sgt. or the funeral. People in those areas are always running their mouths on how the cops do not help them and never see any good in the work cops do
doug
Active Member
..and listen to you..wipe the spittle from your mouth and calm down....I have every right to express an opinion, just as you do...grow up little one, you're not doing your bretheren any favours.
...you know what they say about assumptions.
Jonny5
Senior Member
The consensus from my co-workers was interesting today. They agreed that it seemed over the top and excessive and the media coverage was circus-like, bordering exploitative. However, someone mentioned that it is tradition to have a funeral of this size, with national participation, only for the first officer in Canada who dies each year. Subsequent funerals are smaller and more locally focused. Does anyone know if that's true?
Peepers
Banned
This is a good question that needs to be asked. It is reported that 12,000 officers marched down University Ave. Anyone seeing the pictures of the march would agree with that figure. 14,000 mourners were inside the Convention centre.
Now I understand that not all marchers were Toronto police. There were small delegations from across N/A and a fairly big RCMP contingent and some EMS and Fire, however looking at the video the marchers that I saw seemed to be mostly Toronto police.
When you consider that the total compliment of uniformed officers in Toronto is 5700 it would appear to me that MOST of the 5700 officers were in attendance which means that a skeleton force was left to protect the city. If my observations are correct it would appear that the safety and security of Toronto had to take second place to an over-the-top spectacle designed more as a PR exercise than a genuine tribute to a fallen soldier.
fiendishlibrarian
Active Member
What may "appear" to you is not really the case. The practice for police funerals is for those officers either not working or on vacation to attend. All police divisions are staffed, as normal, as 5600 officers are *never* on duty at the same time barring a 9/11-type of catastrophe. It's like saying all 10,000 TTC drivers are on duty at any given time, and they aren't.
Some of you really need to think and do some research before you post, as self-righteous ignorance is never an appealing thing.
And for those of you criticizing the media coverage, the least I can say is that you have a tin ear with regards to these things, and are, at best, ignorant of the history of such spectacles, and at worst driven by a neurotic paranoia and pithy, envious resentment that I will be charitable and not claim to be the product of previous run-ins with the police.
Some of you really need to think and do some research before you post, as self-righteous ignorance is never an appealing thing.
And for those of you criticizing the media coverage, the least I can say is that you have a tin ear with regards to these things, and are, at best, ignorant of the history of such spectacles, and at worst driven by a neurotic paranoia and pithy, envious resentment that I will be charitable and not claim to be the product of previous run-ins with the police.
doug
Active Member
As do you...you're another one who needs to calm down....spewing vitriol as you do doesn't make you the hero spokesman that you seem to think you are.
fiendishlibrarian
Active Member
You raised the question earlier calling into doubt how many officers were on duty during the funeral. You have not brought forward any evidence backing that up, or any to counter my claim (which I have read as a result of previous police funerals). I have also never claimed to be a "hero spokesman", and the fact you would extrapolate from my post to state that says more about you than me. And believe me, with regards to your current claim here, I could be a *lot* more hysterical, but I won't, as seeing you indulge your neuroses and embarrass yourself is much more satisfying. You aren't worth any more effort than that.
sjmx
New Member
"You raised the question earlier calling into doubt how many officers were on duty during the funeral."
Er, no, actually I did not raise the question at all; (Are you responding to my post or another one??)
I simply think that it's too much of a spectacle and borders on a state funeral in terms of media coverage, which speaks to some very interesting media critique.
In reference to your comments "hero spokesman", 'hysterical' and 'neuroses', all I can say is that you made a valiant effort at making an argument there but it sounds more like a self-diagnosis.
Your posts are always worth the effort of a thoughtful response.
Best, SJMX.
Er, no, actually I did not raise the question at all; (Are you responding to my post or another one??)
I simply think that it's too much of a spectacle and borders on a state funeral in terms of media coverage, which speaks to some very interesting media critique.
In reference to your comments "hero spokesman", 'hysterical' and 'neuroses', all I can say is that you made a valiant effort at making an argument there but it sounds more like a self-diagnosis.
Your posts are always worth the effort of a thoughtful response.
Best, SJMX.
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