There was a police officer recently killed in the line of duty in the province in which I live (Alberta). News reports state that there were 4000 police officers present for the funeral, including over 100 dog handlers and their canine partners (the officer killed was a dog handler). Reportedly, they came from right across the country to attend.
I’m wondering…who pays for the travel for the attendees? Is it paid for by the RCMP and local forces that send a contingent, the officers themselves, or perhaps someone else (union)? Are the officers paid for attending? Any thoughts on what the total cost would be for a police officer’s funeral if this is being paid for by the forces?
This is only my guess, but I figure we pay for the funeral itself (which we should) and the organization/security/etc of it. Also, we probably pay for some dignitaries to come, politicians and higher ranking officers. Otherwise, I figure all the other officers paying their respects due so out of their own pocket; I cannot see the RCMP or anyone else spending so much of their budget on flying 4000 officers to Edmonton. Although the airlines would probably give any officer a discount on their tickets if they mentioned the reason for it.
I am gonna guess that its a collection thats taken up , depending on the location, the police department will allow use of vehicles for the funeral service. I remember a police officer was killed in the line of duty , in sudbury ,and had police cruisers from all over passing me ,coming back from orillia.