Letters

Police memorial vandalism

July 30, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By BRIAN LOCKHART

As far as stupidity goes, a senseless act of vandalism ranks right up there at the top of the list.

No one benefits from vandalism – no one. I would think even a vandal, unless they are not of sound mind, would look back later and think ‘Wow, that was a stupid thing to do.’

Vandalism costs people money. If it’s your property, you have to pay for the damage. Even if you somehow recoup your losses through your insurance, it will still cost you money because you can bet the insurance company is going to raise your rates the next time around.

If the vandalism occurs on public property, we all pay for it through our taxes.

The wanton destruction of property is rarely punished severely. Most likely the persons responsible, if caught, may get a small fine or perhaps probation or community service. If they come from a prominent family, where dad plays golf with the right people, the act is quite often played off as simple hijinks

You rarely see a judge order a person to pay for the destruction they have caused. In the rare instances that might happen, it is not enforced.

You can’t get blood from a stone so the rest of us foot the bill no matter what.

If someone decided to toss a rock through the front window of your home, you would probably be pretty upset.

You would also probably be quite worried wondering who has some kind of vendetta against your or your family.

If you went to the local cemetery and found that someone had vandalized the grave of your friend or loved one, you would probably be outraged. And deservedly so.

Graveyard vandalism does occur from time to time. Usually it’s done by people with nothing better to do on an alcohol fueled night. Occasionally it happens for political reasons, but never a good political reason.

The recent protests and demonstrations that have been happening have been for the most part, peaceful and relatively well organized. At least the ones in our country.

Protests in the U.S. are of a whole different nature.

However there was an incident of vandalism recently in Toronto that not only desecrated a monument, it did a dis-service to everyone who’s name is etched in the granite memorial, as well as the families of those people who are memorialized.

The Ontario Police Memorial is a granite pedestal with the names of every known Ontario Police Officer who lost their lives in the line of duty.

On top of the pedestal are two bronze statues depicting a male and female police officer in uniform.

Usually when you think of vandalism, most likely it will be attributed to, although not always, bored teenagers seeking some kind of a thrill.

Usually by the time people enter their 20’s they outgrow that kind of stupid behaviour.

Well, that’s not always the case.

This police monument was vandalized, apparently by a grown woman, who should have known better.

There is a very clear photo of her. Even though she is wearing a face mask and sunglasses, someone who knows her could easily identify her. She is clearly not a teenager.

This woman painted BLM in large red letters across the monument as some kind of statement.

The monument has the names of 267 Ontario Police Officer who have died in the line of duty dating back to 1820.

What possible good, or what possible statement could be made by defacing this memorial?

The answer is none. This is no reasonable excuse or reasonable case to be made for defacing a memorial designed to honour those who died while protecting the public and enforcing the laws of the land.

If you have a beef with authorities there are plenty of legal ways you can make your displeasure known. Sneaking up to a cenotaph with a can of red paint is a cowardly and stupid thing to do.

The woman who defaced the memorial hasn’t been identified as of yet, but I hope she has seen her photo in the news and is now embarrassed by her actions.

I’m sure she won’t be bragging about this incident any time soon.



         

Facebooktwittermail


Readers Comments (0)


Sorry, comments are closed on this post.

Page Reader Press Enter to Read Page Content Out Loud Press Enter to Pause or Restart Reading Page Content Out Loud Press Enter to Stop Reading Page Content Out Loud Screen Reader Support