Police Constable Darius Garda

Darius Garda found great pride in his work and best friends at 51 Division policing the downtown east side.

Joining the job at 22 after earning a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, he chose policing over a career in medicine – it may have appealed to his adventurous side and fit in well with his love of helping people.

The compassionate and empathetic young officer was always quick witted whether it would be with his partners, superiors, or even those he had placed under arrest in the back of a police vehicle. No one would escape his charm.

But it was early when he was faced with doing something many officers will never have to do in their careers – fire their gun at another human being.

In April 2010, Garda was among officers who shot and killed a man who had led police on a vehicle pursuit and then struck a Toronto officer who confronted him with his vehicle. They were cleared after an investigation, but he struggled to cope with the fatal incident.

Unsure of how to deal with those feelings and unable to find a path to get help, he struggled for years, eventually taking time off of work, drained by his mental illness. He took the time to write about his struggle as a way to help to improve the path forward for others.

He did find his way to counselling, but it was too late to save his life.

He died because of the line of duty on February 3, 2016.

“As a family it’s important to us that he be honoured for how he served the community, not that he died,” said his sister Dilnaz, who has become a mental health advocate for police officers and their families through Canada Beyond the Blue.

“In policing, we take the best people and put them in the worst circumstances,” she said. “It’s normal for us as humans to be unsure of how to process something we’re seeing for the first time. We need to talk it out and find a way to cope. Police officers need to know that they can help themselves so they can continue to serve others.”