Today@Dal

Published June 7 by the Canadian Press:

Gunfire deaths of police officers are rare events and the killing of three RCMP officers in New Brunswick runs against historical statistical trends, but experts say multiple shooting incidents common in the United States might be spilling into Canada.

“Targeting police in Canada is relatively rare,” said Paul McKenna, a political scientist at Dalhousie University in Halifax who studies policing in Canada.

Most police homicides result from domestic disputes, he said, where police are caught in a rapid escalation of tensions and violence.

Statistics Canada data shows that between 1961 and 2012, a total of 136 officers were killed.

The general trend was downward over the decades.

In the 1970s, there were 37 deaths; in the 1980s, 28. Between 2000 and 2010, 10 officers were killed.

But McKenna said he’s concerned so-called active shooter situations more common in the United States might come to Canada. He defines that term as referring to one or more people killing multiple victims in a public area.

“We need to be aware this problem could be on the increase,” he said.

Read the rest of this article at the Toronto Star.