A city’s loss:Sgt. Ryan Russell

A city’s loss:Sgt. Ryan Russell


Toronto police officer Sgt. Ryan Russell, who died Wednesday when he was struck by a snowplow.

Most of Toronto was just stirring awake to a heavy snowfall when Sgt. Ryan Russell answered a call about a stolen snowplow on a rampage through the still-dark downtown streets. On any day of the year, the call would be a risky one. On Wednesday, in the icy dawn, it proved tragic.


It was, as Police Chief Bill Blair put it, “the worst of days.”

Or as Mike McCormack of the Toronto Police Association put it, with understandable edge: Too often “people talk about police officers and what we do” in an abstract way. “Well, this is what we do.”

Sgt. Russell leaves a spouse and child.

Official Toronto is in mourning. Flags are at half-mast. Political leaders including Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor Rob Ford have paid tribute and offered condolences. Sgt. Russell’s family can take some comfort knowing that a community shares their grief.

This loss is a potent reminder of the risks police, firefighters and paramedics can face as they respond to emergency calls. Too often we take for granted that someone will handle the fires, accidents, drunken brawls, break-ins and, yes, the rampaging drivers, so the rest of us can sleep in peace. Once in a while, something like this shakes us awake to the everyday courage that these jobs demand. Our first responders put themselves in harm’s way more often than we care to think about.

To Sgt. Russell’s family, we owe thanks for his leadership fighting the gangs and guns that bedevil this city, and for his years of service. Down at 52 Division, they know him as “a good man,” a mentor who went out of his way to help others. We know this, too: When it mattered, he was there for us.

THE CANADIAN PRESS
Published On Thu Jan 13 2011Email Print Share12Rss Article