Stu Seib has paid his debt to society. Has society paid its debt to Stu Seib?
As outlined in this week's article, the former sergeant-in-charge of the Clearwater RCMP detachment was sentenced in 2012 to one year of probation plus 50 hours of community service after he came forward to admit that he had stolen cocaine from the detachment's evidence locker.
Seib also was forced to retire from the police force, although he was able to retain a pension.
Probably far more painful than any penalty the court could hand out were the media feeding frenzy and community reaction that followed his admission of wrongdoing.
According to statements presented at his trial, Seib was depressed after seeing the body of a young girl he knew at a motor vehicle crash scene.
He attempted to self-medicate, which led to his drug addiction.
We, the other members of society, like to believe that the members of our police force (plus our armed forces personnel, ambulance paramedics, social workers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency room workers and so on) can be exposed to all kinds of horrible situations and walk away unaffected.
Life doesn't work that way. Different stresses affect different people in different ways.
No doubt post-traumatic stress disorder has always been with us, but only recently has it become recognized as a real illness with real consequences.
Stu Seib has actually been one of the lucky ones. He has kept his family and his home – and his life.
As of last fall, 32 former and serving RCMP officers have died by their own hand since 2006.
More police in Canada die by suicide than are killed on duty.
This is not an acceptable situation. More must be done to help those injured psychologically while working to keep Canada safe.