NEW THIS MORNING
Celebrated former Ottawa police officer Robin Easey passes away
Former Ottawa Police Sgt. Robin Easey is seen in this file image. (CTV News Ottawa)
Robin Easey, a former Ottawa police officer who was gravely wounded by an armed robber in the 1980s and who later became a champion for rehabilitation, has died.
Easey was 70.
Ottawa Police Association President Matthew Cox said Easey was 'the definition of a true hero.'
"From the Ottawa policing family the name Robin Easey will never be forgotten," Cox wrote in an email to CTV News Ottawa.
Easey and his partner Ralph Erfle were constables with the Nepean police force when they were both shot while responding to a robbery at the Bayshore Shopping Centre in 1984. Both men survived, but Easey was left blind and with serious mobility and health issues.
Easey eventually became a sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service and was a strong advocate for rehabilitation and support for survivors of severe trauma.
"Sgt. Easey was left in a wheelchair but was always proud to don his police uniform and attend police events and the Canadian Police Memorial on Parliament Hill where he would represent the Ottawa Police to honour the fallen," Cox said.
In 1988, a support group for police officers called Robin's Blue Circle was created. It was named in Easey's honour and remains active today.
"Robin's Blue Circle is probably one of the longest standing police peer support networks in North America. Robin is the inspiration and champion behind this group," said Cox. "To be part of this group you must have been involved in a police shooting or been shot in the execution of your duties."
The Ottawa Hospital's Robin Easey Centre is also named after the former officer. It provides services for adults with acquired brain injuries.
Easey was awarded the Governor General's Police Exemplary Service Medal in 1995. In 2018, the city of Ottawa named a street after him.
Robin Easey Avenue intersects with Ralph Erfle Way in Barrhaven. Erfle went on to become a superintendent with the Ottawa Police Service.
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