Hundreds of people gathered in Victoria on Sunday afternoon for the 2018 B.C. Law Enforcement Memorial.
Police officers from across the province and beyond marched from downtown Victoria to the lawn of the legislature for the ceremony, which honoured the 125 officers who have lost their lives in active service in the province.
Two B.C. officers were honoured this year.
Const. John Davidson of the Abbotsford Police Department died in the line of duty last November.
The 53-year old veteran officer was shot and killed while responding to a stolen vehicle call.
WATCH: Const. John Davidson is carried out of the Abbotsford Centre
And this past April, Victoria police Const. Ian Jordan died after laying in a coma for three decades, following a motor vehicle incident in 1987.
“It’s a dark day when we lose a police officer, and this is a dark day like that and it helps us to recall were really dealing with a grief and a true loss and a chance to remember what they really gave up,” said Abbotsford police chief Bob Rich.
“John Davidson was this neat guy,” Rich said. “He was somebody who got angry when he saw injustice, he’s somebody who fought back when he saw kids were at risk so it’s neat to hear kids laughing behind us because that’s what John cared about was the kids.”
The B.C. Law Enforcement Memorial coincides with the National Police & Peace Officers’ Memorial, and alternates between the BC Legislature in Victoria and an alternate location in the Lower Mainland every year.
A monument known as The Bastion, dedicated to officers who have lost their lives in service, was built at the BC Legislature in 2004.