Constable Michael Shaw

Thank You in Return

Today, I received a simple but meaningful to me, comment to the posting that I made about Constable Michael Shaw recently, after his senseless gutting over nothing at the hands of the Ontario HRC, which so disgusted me.

It was from the Constable himself. He identified himself by his badge number and Division, and said simply "Thank You." 2 of the most important words in the English language.

I did not write the piece to be thanked by him particularly. I wrote it because he was screwed over, and I hate it when people are screwed over by our HRCs. But, I really hate it when public servants particularly those who put their lives at risk so we can be safe, and those who spend their lives teaching our children are abused by our government minions in the name of BS Human Rights violations that occurred only in the mind of some person who can't let go of their childhood, and takes it out on an adult who looked at them sideways. Of course, in Constable Shaw's case, he didn't look at him sideways but straight in the face and asked him for ID.

So, I appreciated that Constable Shaw took a moment in his day to acknowledge that I had spoken up for him. Those two words made my day. It honoured me to be appreciated.

When I wrote the article about Constable Shaw, I articulated my cousin's death while on patrol in 52 Division many years ago, and a couple of other things, including a recent speeding stop I had in Michigan.

But, here's another example with a following question. A couple of years ago, I was proceeding along a stretch of 80 km road on the north side of London approaching an intersection with a green light. Suddenly, a car crossed right in front of my path, and I t-boned him in the empty passenger side of his car and destroyed my car with two of my daughters as passengers. In short order, there was a police car on the scene, and members of the London equivalent of the SWAT team also arrived in their van, because they were nearest to the scene, and fortunately not otherwise occupied.

These men and women treated my two children, the driver of the other car, and myself with dignity and respect, ensuring that we were safe and physically unharmed. My kids and I got to ride home in the tactical unit van, to the confusion of our neighbours. I recall very little of that night, which is part of why I failed to mention it in the last piece, but I do recall being treated very respectfully. If the accident had occurred in Division 33 in Toronto, one of the responding officers could have been Constable Shaw. Oh, but not right now, because he is off on administrative leave over this nonsense.

So, here's the question. If you are in an accident, and need help, who would you prefer to be on the scene, a part time mail man like Mr. Phipps, or Constable Shaw? I choose Constable Shaw, but only Mr. Phipps is still on the job. That's the real tragedy.