CSI Blog & Newsroom

Photographer: Matthew Henry

“Ontario’s provincial police force is overhauling its mental health support system in response to the recent suicides of three officers,” wrote Ashley Burke for CBC News on August 28, 2018.

Burke continued, “OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes is expected to announce details later this week. So far, Hawkes’s only public comments about the deaths have been on Twitter, where he wrote he was “deeply devastated by the recent loss of three of our members.”

Hawkes also vowed to examine any barriers preventing members from seeking help.

The widow of one of the deceased officers is calling on the OPP to set aside time in each officer’s day to allow them to discuss difficult calls with their peers.

Sarah Routhier’s husband, Sgt. Sylvain Routhier, was 37 when he took his life on July 31, after more than a decade as a OPP officer in Belleville, Ont. 

She said her husband was a gentle soul and loving father of three who coached all of his kids’ hockey teams and built a large backyard rink.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Spencer Selover

“A large forest fire in northeastern Ontario was less active on Wednesday but is still causing concern as residents have either left their communities or are on an evacuation alert,” wrote CBC News on August 1, 2018.

CBC News continued, “The Parry Sound 33 forest fire, which began two weeks ago, remains at 10,139 hectares in size with officials saying the fire started being less active on Tuesday due to high humidity levels and cloud cover.

Shayne McCool, a fire information officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says, “It wasn’t as active as it had been in days prior … so that’s a good sign,” he said.

“We made some progress on the southwest side [of the fire]. We’re expecting to see different conditions that we have in previous days [and] that should change the circumstances and allow us to make some more headway on containing this fire.”

The Parry Sound 33 fire started on July 18 and is still not under control. Across northeastern Ontario, there are currently 41 active fires burning with 13 listed as not under control. Crews are still working to fight one of the largest fires in the province near Temagami, which is 27,285 hectares in size.”

Read the full article here.