EDMONTON — After decades of offering funeral procession escorts to families in the city, the Edmonton Police Service has been forced to put an end to the service because of an increased need for officers on the street.
“Our primary duty is to answer calls for service. We are seeing pressures around that and taking four to six officers off the road for a couple hours is a big issue for us,” said Acting Chief Brian Simpson with the EPS.
So far this year, the EPS has seen an 8.6 per cent increase in calls for service, which is an increase of about 9,000 calls.
Simpson said the EPS usually takes part in about 20 to 40 funeral processions per year. The officers involved in the escorts have specialized training and according to Simpson, there are a limited number of officers who can provide the service.
The decision to end funeral procession escorts, which the EPS offered as a courtesy, was not an easy one to make.
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“We understand the impact, we appreciate the importance of funerals to families and individuals,” Simpson said.
“This decision was not taken lightly.”
Stu Murray, the general manager of First Memorial Funeral Chapels in Edmonton, said he heard rumblings about the change over the summer and received a formal letter in September.
“My first thought was it’s too bad, it’s a fantastic service that the citizens of Edmonton have enjoyed, but I understand where it’s coming from.”
Over the years his funeral home was never denied when Murray put in a request for police escorts. He said they were particularly helpful to move larger services through the busy city streets.
“I was always mindful that if something happened in the city, if they got busy or shortstaffed, they might not arrive,” said Murray. “In my experience in Edmonton, they always showed up with the right number of people or too many just to make it perfect.”
The funeral home will be looking at making changes to adapt for the lack of police escorts, such as adding extra signage or another car to the procession.
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