Bus driver's blue ribbon campaign honours Czapnik

An OC Transpo driver is offering blue ribbons to bus passengers as a way to honour slain Ottawa police Const. Eric Czapnik.

"The cops are there all the time for us when we need them, so now I think it is the time for them to need us," said Frank Fata, who helped organize a similar campaign with black ribbons following the April 1999 killing of four OC Transpo employees.

"Instead of using black, we use blue, with reference to the men and women in blue."

Czapnik, 51, died of stab wounds early Tuesday after being attacked outside the emergency room doors of the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

A Saskatchewan RCMP officer, who was on suspension from the force at the time of the slaying, has been charged with first-degree murder. Kevin Gregson, 43, also faces charges of robbery and use of an imitation firearm in the commission of an offence.

Meanwhile, retired Ottawa police officer Doug Kirkland is advising officers not to change the way they interact with people on the street.

Kirkland, a 25-year veteran of the force, said that while Czapnik's death may put some officers on edge, they should avoid the temptation to become more defensive when citizens approach.

"Take a look at the outpouring of sympathy that the general public of this city is putting out, totally unselfishly, and remember that it's the base that you've built on that's helping that to happen," Kirkland said. "You don't want to jeopardize that."

Czapnik's funeral is scheduled for Jan. 7.