Photo\PETER FISHER SCOTT LOBB OF THE ORANGEVILLE POLICE lays a wreath at Sunday's National Memorial Day Service in Ottawa. It was a memorial for four officers who died in the line of duty this past year. Among them was his uncle, Robert Plunkett. Last Sunday, thousands of police and peace officers from across Canada descended on Ottawa's Parliament Hill to remember four of their comrades who died in the line of duty over the past year.

Among the fallen was Det. Const. Robert Plunkett of the York Regional Police, killed Aug. 2 while trying to make an arrest.

The National Memorial Day Service, held each year on the last Sunday of September, was particularly poignant for Acting Sergeant Scott Lobb, a nine-year veteran of the Orangeville

Police Service and a nephew of Mr. Plunkett.

"He was a role model for me growing up," Sgt. Lobb recalled. "He played a big part in shaping what I wanted to do in my life."

Mr. Plunkett, the first York Regional police officer to die on duty since 1984 and the third to die in the force's history, was investigating airbag thefts when he tried to make the arrest in Markham, north of Toronto.

According to police, he was dragged by a reversing car and pinned between a tree and the car's open door. Nadeem Jiwa, 19, of Toronto, was initially charged with manslaughter, but the charge has been upgraded to first-degree murder.

Baseer Yousafzai, 23, faces charges of theft and breach of bail.

Mr. Lobb remains optimistic that justice will be done in the case of his uncle's death, noting that the Lobb family has faith in the criminal justice system, including the Crown attorneys and the police investigating the case.

Mr. Plunkett served 22 years as a police officer, received several awards for bravery, and was once named "toughest cop alive" at the Canadian Law Enforcement Games.

He was known as "Chum" and "Plunker" to his friends and colleagues, and "Officer Rob" to the participants in the Special Olympics, where Mr. Plunkett volunteered an extensive amount of his time.

As for the thousands of officers who attended both the Parliament Hill service and his August 8 funeral in Newmarket, Ontario, Robert Plunkett was-as are all police and peace officers-a vital cell in the body of law enforcement.

"When one (officer) falls," notes Sgt. Lobb, "we all stumble."