The sting of death has reverberated throughout police forces across the country the past nine months with the untimely deaths of 11 members.

The names of 20 peace and police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in Newfoundland and Labrador were read aloud at Seventh-day Adventist Church in St. John ‘s this morning. Chief Patrick Roche of the RNC said far too many officers have paid the supreme sacrifice.

He noted that it’s important to thank the families of officers as they sacrifice more than most. Ninety per cent of the time the officer returns home safely but when they don’t, police pull together and get through it.

The Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP in Newfoundland and Labrador, Jennifer Ebert, told her colleagues that it’s the community that suffers when police officers are murdered or their lives are lost to suicide because of the dangers of the job.

Something as simple as the sound of Velcro is a sound which all officers understand, she said. “When we hear that vest come off, we know you’re safe.”