Ottawa Police Association sounds alarm following recent officer killings

Just days after the funeral for OPP Const. Greg Pierzchala, four of Canada’s largest Police Associations have issued a joint statement to address issues such as bail and repeat offenders.

"We are devastated, we are hurting over this loss," OPP Association President John Cerasuolo told CTV News Ottawa.

"Our member Greg had great potential to our organization, and it’s just a life that was cut short."

Some of Canada's largest police associations say they are banding together to identify the root causes behind the killings of five police officers in the past four months.

"Each one has its own circumstances of events that led to the tragedy, and in our tragedy that just happened there’s some issues with bail," Cerasuolo said.

The Canadian Police Association, the Police Association of Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police Association, and the Toronto Police Association say they are joining forces to examine the issues, and will then call for change to make sure the "wave of violence" against police does not continue.

The associations, which represent about 60,000 sworn and civilian police personnel, say they will review judicial and public policy frameworks, including bail and sentencing practices.

"If you ask any police officer, 'Is it working?' It’s not working. They’d be very vocal about that. We get a lot of examples out there where they’re arresting people for serious violent crimes - later on that day, or the next day, they’re back out in public."

The associations say they will also examine what they call a "growing and chronic" shortage of police officers, and whether CrimeStoppers programs need to be boosted.

"Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is make it safe for Police officers and the community," Cerasuolo said.

The Ottawa Police Association is also sounding the alarm.

"There’s a lot of frustration after seeing the senselessness death of Constable Pierzchala," Ottawa Police Association president Matthew Cox told CTV News.

"After seeing that, I knew that we needed to do something to try and get our messaging out and get our community on our side to start to try and lobby all of government to make it safe for everybody," Cox said.

"I think we all need to come together, and I think this is more of a community issue - not just a policing issue. The community safety needs to be paramount," Cox said.

A funeral was held Wednesday for Const. Pierzchala, who was shot while responding to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville, Ont., on Dec. 27.

Four other police officers have been killed in the line of duty in Canada since September. RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang was fatally stabbed in Burnaby, B.C., South Simcoe Police officers Devon Northrup and Morgan Russell were shot at an Innisfil, Ont., home, and Toronto Police Const. Andrew Hong was shot dead in Mississauga, Ont.

With files from The Canadian Press