Edmonton police are investigating after a statue and a monument dedicated to two Edmonton police officers who died in the line of duty were covered in graffiti.
Tags and the words “F*** cops” were written on a statue and a plaque in Constable Ezio Faraone Park.
Edmonton police said Friday that beat officers partrolling in the area noticed the graffiti around noon on Thursday. They believe the vandalism happened sometime overnight between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
“It’s disheartening,” EPS Const. Andrew Pierce said when he saw the vandalism. “I know that a lot of people utilize this park and I know they’re here to do activities and you see people working out on a regular basis. And I know for them to see that, I know they’ve convened a lot of support for us. To see that and go by that on our bikes, it’s just disrespectful.”
The park honours both Faraone — who was shot and killed on June 25, 1990 while investigating a bank robbery — and Const. William Nixon — who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1919.
The City of Edmonton said it was made aware of the vandalism responded Friday to clean it up “as soon as possible.”
By 10 a.m., the graffiti on the Faraone statue was cleaned up.
“It’s just a shame that statues like that get defaced and I’m glad that the city is on top of it and cleaning it up right away,” passerby Marcel Huculak said.
The president of the Edmonton Police Association, Sgt. Michael Elliott, said he learned of the graffiti at around 8 p.m. Thursday.
“I was extremely disappointed and I was hurt by it, to be quite honest,” he said Friday afternoon. “The reason I say that is because it’s been defaced about four times in the past two months and I’m really getting tired of it.”
The EPS said it has received complaints about mischief and graffiti at the statue twice since May. Other mischief incidents were also reported to police in January 2012 and April 2003.
Elliott said he knows tensions are high and people are frustrated with police, but he said there are “methods and mechanisms in play that you can voice your opinions.”
“We’ve had discussions at city hall, we’ve had protests, we’ve had vigils, we’ve had open dialogue. I’m open for a one-on-one meeting with an individual or group but please, don’t deface a monument for Ezio Faraone who, 30 years ago this past June, was actually trying to stop a bank robbery in progress and he was shot in the back and killed,” he pleaded.
“He sacrificed his life for our community, protecting our citizens. For vandalism for that, I just think that’s senseless and I don’t understand the purpose behind it.
“We have freedom of speech and I understand if you want to voice your frustrations against police officers and some of their actions, or the oversight and the bigger picture if you look at things, if you have an issue with that, yes, voice your concerns, voice your opinions, but don’t do it personally. This is like a personal attack. I don’t go to somebody’s home that I dislike and do something to their house or to something that they value and they love. That’s just plain incorrect, it’s just wrong.”
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson took to Twitter to share his thoughts.
“The defacing of Const. Ezio Faraone’s (a police officer who died while responding to a bank robbery) memorial statue doesn’t advance the cause for social justice,” he wrote.
“Edmontonians are extremely grateful to our first responders for their sacrifice.”
Justice Minister Kaycee Madu issued a statement saying he will not tolerate vandalism of monuments and statues.
“The public monuments remind us of our history, both bad and good,” he said. “I do think that the artists who spend so much time and effort in building these monuments deserve our respect.
“In particular, when the statue defaced is that of police officers — the men and women who don uniforms to protect us – -we must stand up and speak out against these cowardly and despicable acts of vandalism.”
Madu condemned the idea that resorting to vandalism when calling for justice is acceptable, but added that society needs to address concerns being raised about law enforcement.
“We must continue to have these conversations about our sometimes difficult history, and we must continue to lawfully protest because it is a constitutional right,” his statement reads. “I do think these concerns are legitimate, but I also know we are a nation of laws.
“We should be able to air our grievances and demand change in a way that allows us to build relationships to collectively tackle the problems facing our communities.”
Edmonton police ask anyone who may have been in the area or has dashcam video of the area between Wednesday and Thursday to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a cellphone.
The park is located in Edmonton’s Oliver neighbourhood along the northern edge of the North Saskatchewan River.