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Sympathy for all fatalities

However, I am a little surprised at the media coverage of the RCMP officer's demise.

It is very difficult for me to visualize the grief and tragedy that Surrey RCMP Const. Adrian Oliver’s family members are suffering after his death in a  car accident.

However, I am a little surprised at the media coverage of his demise. At least three times as many construction workers die “on the job” as law enforcement officers.

When a construction worker dies “in the line of duty,” the death does not receive the headlines that Const. Oliver’s death received, and yet the tragedy is equally tragic for the person’s surviving family.

At worst, the construction worker’s death will receive no media coverage or, at best, a paragraph in a newspaper.

I have trouble understanding why the death of a police officer ranks as more important than the death of a construction worker.

When a person takes on a position in law enforcement, he/she and their family must realize that there is an element of danger in the job, but in any case the job is relatively safe as there are very few incidents.

In either case, the surviving family will have to make a very difficult transition in their lives and my sympathy goes out to the family of any person who dies on the job.

 

Stewart Calder

Surrey