In Victoria, hundreds of community members and law enforcement personnel came together on Sunday to pay their respects to officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. The event, titled the British Columbia Law Enforcement Memorial Service 2023, took place at the BC Legislature in Victoria.
This memorial service serves as a tribute to 130 law enforcement officers who laid down their lives while serving British Columbia communities. Among those honored was Burnaby RCMP Constable Shaelyn Yang, tragically killed in the line of duty on October 18, 2022, while attending to a homeless campsite, where she was fatally stabbed.
Fiona Wilson, Deputy Chief of the Vancouver Police’s Investigation Division and Vice President of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, emphasized the significance of the event, stating, “This event is perhaps the most important weekend of the year for officers in the country and the province. We come together to acknowledge and remember the ultimate sacrifice that some of our members have made while serving their communities.”
Wilson also expressed the profound sense of loss felt within the law enforcement community, comparing it to losing a family member. She stated, “I think one of the most difficult things for police officers to face in our careers is the loss of a colleague. We are like a family—brothers and sisters. Being just a year out from the murder of Shaelyn Yang, and of course Const. O’Brien last week, it is a difficult time for police in this country. We are all mourning their loss.”
In conjunction with the memorial service, several other events were held, including the ninth annual BCLEM Ride to Remember, the fifth annual BCLEM Run to Remember, and the tenth annual BCLEW Golf Tournament. The BC Law Enforcement Memorial committee has decided that all future memorial service events will be permanently held in Victoria.
This poignant event occurred shortly after Constable Rick O’Brien’s tragic shooting death in Coquitlam while on duty. He was part of an RCMP team conducting a search warrant as part of a drug investigation. Homicide investigators have since charged 25-year-old Nicholas Bellemare with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting.