Alberta RCMP, police attend Moncton funeral

Alberta law enforcement agencies have sent dozens of officers to Moncton, N.B.

A regimental funeral for three slain Mounties is set for 1 p.m. AT at the Moncton Coliseum.

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Alberta RCMP members, as well as sheriffs and police officers from Edmonton and Calgary, will be in attendance.

Calgary Police Service Insp. Dean Lagrange is one of the first responders in New Brunswick to represent Alberta officers.

"I think in Canada, the police are an arm of the community," said Lagrange from his hotel in Moncton.

"We're not an arm of the state and when something like this happens, there's a targeted attack against police, the community, as you've seen really rallies behind us because it's not just an attack on the individual police officer, it's an attack on society itself."

It's a law-enforcement tradition in North America that when an officer dies in the line of duty, fellow first responders from across North America make the journey to pay their respects.

In 2012, about a thousand uniformed officials showed up in High River for the funeral of Rod Lazenby, who was allegedly murdered while responding as a peace officer to a dog complaint. Lazenby was a retired RCMP officer.

Roughly 7,000 officers are expected in Moncton on Tuesday.

"When it all boils down to it, we're all in this together," said Legrange.

"When one of us it attacked directly, for no reason, it's an attack against society in general."