Over the coming weeks the question haunting the MD of Foothills will be, “What could we have done differently?”
Unfortunately, for the staff at the MD there may not be an answer.
On Friday the Foothills area was shocked when an MD peace officer was killed in the line of duty.
MD peace officer Rod Lazenby, who was a retired RCMP officer, died as a result of an altercation near Priddis Aug. 10.
Trevor Kloschinsky, 46 of Priddis, has been charged with first degree murder in connection to the case.
As a result of the tragedy the MD of Foothills and the Alberta government should be reviewing its protocol in regards to procedures and the resources provided to peace officers.
First, Kloschinsky was well known to the MD of Foothills and has been the subject of numerous complaints regarding his dog kennel. Although it is not known whether or not Kloschinsky was violent towards MD staff in the past, Lazenby felt confident enough to attend the home on Friday alone.
The question will be, should protocol be in place stating staff should not be alone if attending a situation where there is potential risk? There are many issues with this including assessing what is potential risk and manpower.
Municipalities, including the MD and Okotoks, do not have the staff or funding to ensure peace officers can patrol in teams. Perhaps they could tap into the RCMP for assistance and have a Mountie join them if needed.
Secondly, Lazenby was a Level II peace officer meaning he did not carry any protection including pepper spray or baton.
Lazenby, an experienced RCMP officer, may have been better able to protect himself had he been given better resources. This is an issue the Alberta Justice Minister will have to address in the wake of this fatality. Do peace officers have the equipment to ensure their safety? If not, what steps can be taken to better protect these men and women?
Albeit, Lazenby’s death was a tragedy and there will be many questions asked about how this could have happened and how could it have been prevented.
As difficult as it may be to accept, there may not be definitive answers to these questions.
Absolutely, Alberta’s Justice Minister and municipalities should review their procedures, but should there be massive changes to their peace officer protocol because of one incident? Difficult to answer.
One thing is for certain, all the procedures and protocols cannot predict the actions of what looks to be a disturbed individual.
