A ceremony at RCMP Depot Division in Regina on Sunday saw three names added to the RCMP’s Honour Roll and inscribed on the Memorial Wall.
“I really feel like we’ve brought them home.”
Those were the words Chief Superintendent and Commanding Officer of Depot Division Sylvie Bourassa-Muise spoke after the ceremony.
It was an event that memorialized three fallen RCMP officers from across the nation. The fallen included Cst. Allan Poapst, Cst. Heidi Stevenson and Cst. Shelby Patton. All three officers died in the line of duty during the past three years.
The tradition to honour those who have died in the line of service is an important healing process for the RCMP and their family members, according to Bourassa-Muise.
“There’s a wide range of emotions going on today but certainly for most of us,” she said.
“We’ve never had the time to grieve for the last three members and this has given us opportunity to come together as a regiment.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the members of the RCMP haven’t been able to gather to remember their fallen members. On Sunday that finally changed.
The RCMP took the opportunity to gather troops from across the country, along with their loved ones.
“I can’t describe it… it was…it was just extremely emotional for me,” Doug Poapst, father of Cst. Allan Poapst said about the experience.
Cst. Poapst died on Dec. 13, 2019, after sustaining injuries in a car crash on Highway 101 near Winnipeg.
The other two additions to the 2022 inclusions were Cst. Heidi Stevenson and Cst. Shelby Patton.
Stevenson died on Apr. 19, 2020 near Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia after aiding another RCMP officer who was engaged in a shootout.
Cst. Patton was struck by a suspect who was driving a stolen vehicle on June 12, 2021 in Wolseley, Sask.
“The RCMP have been very good to all of us…it’s really, really rewarding to see that…that response,” said Poapst’s father.
Those in the RCMP know the importance of honouring those who have sacrificed their lives on the force. However, with each sacrifice comes a learning experience for the federal police force.
“We also learn from those who’ve fallen, but also it makes us stronger,” Bourassa-Muise told CTV News following the ceremony.
“It binds us together and the more that things go wrong, sometimes it seems that we grow closer together.”
With the latest three additions, the total number of officers included on the Honour Roll and Memorial Wall rose to 246 since the creation of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1873.
