Flags outside Calgary police headquarters and detachments around the city lowered to half-mast as police forces in both Calgary and Edmonton pay their respects to the two police officers from Ontario who were killed in the line of duty this week.

A CPS spokesperson told Global News it is protocol for the flags to be lowered to half-mast to honour the service and sacrifice of any Canadian police officer who died in the line of duty.

The flags are lowered on the day the officer’s death is confirmed until sunset on the day of the officer’s funeral.

Const. Tarun Bali of the Ontario Provincial Police died on Tuesday after being struck by a vehicle while officers were trying to apprehend the driver in Hearst, Ont., approximately 600 kilometres northwest of Sudbury.

The driver of the vehicle, an 18-year-old man, faces a long list of charges, including first-degree murder.

Early Thursday morning, Const. Marc Pinizzotto, a member of the Toronto police department’s Emergency Task Force, was shot and killed while officers were executing a search warrant in the neighbourhood of North York.

A 19-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in his death.

Both the Edmonton and Calgary police forces are no strangers to such tragedies.

A total of 12 Calgary police officers and 10 members of the Edmonton Police Service have also been killed in the line of duty during the history of the respective forces.