An officer salutes the funeral procession carrying the body of Abbotsford Constable John Davidson to a memorial in Abbotsford, B.C., on Sunday. Constable Davidson was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 6, 2017.BEN NELMS/The Canadian Press
An Abbotsford police officer shot to death two weeks ago was remembered on Sunday as a loving family man and a driven competitor whose biting sense of humour won over superiors and even those he found on the wrong side of the law.
Constable John Davidson's 24-year policing career in Britain and Abbotsford, B.C., east of Vancouver, came to an abrupt end when the traffic officer responded to a report of a stolen car Nov. 6 that ended in a deadly daylight shootout.
Family members and co-workers at the Abbotsford Police Department were joined at the local hockey arena Sunday afternoon by around 8,000 fellow police officers and first responders from across British Columbia and parts further afield to both grieve and celebrate a life they say was cut short decades too soon.
Before the ceremony, thousands of those officers marched with a police pipe band, motorcycles and a riderless horse along the procession route with the hearse carrying Constable Davidson's remains.
His eldest daughter, Dina Davidson, told the crowd that she was surprised by all the stories of his heroism and kindness on and off duty because her father was too modest to ever mention any of his accomplishments around his wife or three children.
"Our dad would be incredibly annoyed to see how upset we all are blubbering over him," said Ms. Davidson, who, along with the rest of her family, wore the Davidson clan's Scottish tartan. "He'd probably cry for a second, then tell us to get on with it in a not-so-subtle way."
His youngest daughter, Fay Davidson, said: "It's agonizing to picture a future without his guidance and support, but we will always be able to imagine his harsh Scottish accent cheering us."
Constable Davidson grew up in Scotland, joined the Royal Air Force for a brief stint and attended teacher's college before getting his start in policing in Northumbria in northeastern Britain in 1993.
His three siblings, who flew in for the service, said they had planned on sharing many funny stories about their brother, who was always driven to be the first at everything, but they were too devastated by the death of an athletic 53-year-old man who told everyone he planned on living to 100.
"Underneath it all, you were an incredibly sensitive man and the thought that you had to leave your family under these circumstances would have broken your heart," his sister, Isabelle, told the teary-eyed crowd.
The chief of Constable Davidson's former department in Britain also attended the service.
Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich told the crowd that the support they showed on Sunday mirrored the help his department received from neighbouring forces the day Constable Davidson was killed.
"When that shot rang out, blackness fell on a sunny day in Abbotsford," he said. "I think we have [now] overwhelmed the darkness that this single man has brought upon our city."
Oscar Arfmann, a 65-year-old Albertan with an expired gun licence and a history of mental illness, has been charged with first-degree murder in the incident.
Karen Frost, a retired RCMP constable who served two decades across Western Canada and in Kosovo, said seeing Constable Davidson's road bike trailing the hearse is when she became overcome with emotion. That beloved item reminded her of the first funeral for a fellow officer she attended in northern Alberta 30 years ago – where a dog-handler's body was followed by the canine co-worker he left behind.
Several hundred members of the public lined the procession route in the pouring rain to pay tribute to Constable Davidson.
Chris Coburn roomed with Constable Davidson for a gruelling nine-day Cops For Cancer cycling tour of the Fraser Valley in September and said his strength and enthusiasm never wavered.
"He had that U.K., British Isles sense of humour – very dry. He was all about community this guy," Mr. Coburn said. "That's why it's so difficult for us. Because of all the people for this to happen to on our team, it's hard to process that it's actually happened to John."
Ryan McAllister, a local musician, wrote and sang a song at the service called The Thin Blue Line dedicated to Constable Davidson, whom he had worked with two years ago on a video for teens about the dangers of the adulterants found in party drugs such as ecstasy.
"In law enforcement, the thin blue line is this little line that separates chaos and anarchy from law and order," Mr. McAllister said as he strummed his guitar in the bowels of the Abbotsford Centre. "There's good guys and bad guys. I don't think we realize that sometimes."