08/13/2026
We are here to help and have supported First Responders for years. My heart aches for First Responders and their families.
Unless you're in this industry, you may not have known this. In the last 48 hours, a Hamilton Police officer and a Durham Regional Police officer have died by su***de.
The DRPS officer died by su***de, on duty, inside a police facility. His service still hasn't acknowledged it. Hamilton acknowledged theirs.... the next day..on X.
Now compare that to a line of duty death. That's headline news within the hour, every time.
Police services, the provincial government, and every outside organization that claims to "have officers' backs" say they stand up for them. So where are they? Thoughts, condolences, prayers, they mean nothing if they only show up for one kind of death.
Police services hide the su***des. HIDE THEM. And they still want us, want you, to believe they care.
After hearing about this death this morning, several people reached out to me. One conversation stopped me cold. As recently as a couple of days ago, DRPS senior leadership were heard laughing, joking, and bragging about forcing a member to go off of work. That lines up with something I sat in the room for myself. In a leadership meeting I personally attended, leadership said members off for mental health related injuries should be fired, saying it plainly: "Give them $100,000 and say see ya later." And this being the same organization that has only a couple of civilians in its wellness unit, having removed its only officer from the unit recently.
So when they finally acknowledge this loss, and they will, remember this. They'll say they're offering support. They'll say they'll be there for their members. They aren't. DRPS removed critical incident debriefs. They have no officers left in their wellness unit. There's no formal peer support system anymore.
Shame.
This was preventable. The next one will be too. The question is whether anything actually gets done this time, or whether we just wait for the next 48 hours.
To the officers on their teams, to those who responded to the calls, please remember to feel the loss, to grieve. Support one another. You will be each other's only support, so lean on each other. These traumas are unimaginable. Be there for each other, and don't expect the service or the association to be there for you beyond the next week or so. I'm here, should you want to reach out.
To the families. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry for what has happened. I so badly wish that neither of these had happened. Truly, if you need anything, reach out, to a trusted family member or loved one. If you want, you can reach out to me.
Police Association of Ontario
