Another mass shooting of precious children in the U.S. yet still no movement to tighten gun laws there. lighthouseleadershipservices…

I was sitting in my Chief Supt office in East Region HQ when I was advised that planes had hit the World Trade Center. We started calling in additional members. East Region has a number of border crossings into New York State and surrounds the National Capital Region. All government buildings in Ottawa were ordered closed and Ottawa Police asked for help to manage the traffic leaving the city and to help secure potential targets. We dispatched officers to support Canada Customs at each border crossing as CBSA officers were unarmed at that time. Many international flights were re-routed to various Canadian airports including Ottawa. We had to send resources to help secure planes and passengers and to search for explosives l, suspects and/or weapons. The days to follow were tense for all, but our officers rose to the occasion as they always do, supported by our Com Centres and civilian personnel. In addition to guarding bordering points for the possibility of terrorists running north and all the Ottawa issues, they responded to bizarre calls of suspicious devices or substances. The public was scared so the number of calls we received was unreal. Of course the families of our personnel were at home watching the media coverage of the frightening uncertainty, not knowing where their loved ones among our uniformed staff were or if they were in danger. We tried our best to communicate to them that everyone was okay. It was a frightening and demanding time in the Region, but I couldn’t have been prouder of the commitment of our people as they responded to the threats with courage and resolve until we were confident that there was no further threat. Hard to believe that was 25 years ago!