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Sad Event.

By Chris | April 20, 2007

I attended Dawn’s funeral today. Initially I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to have to deal with the sadness that funerals bring-much less one of a friend-but I went anyway. I caught a ride with one of our police officers, Sgt Milks, who was going to the service and then returning back to work, which is what I had to do as well. I got to ride with Sgt Milks in one of our police cruisers in the funeral procession from McAlister Smith on Hwy 52 in Goose Creek up to the Crossroads Community Church in Summerville. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t as fast as one would think it would be. It was impressive that many people on the opposing side of the road would stop and pull to the side. There were not many cars on our side, as the intersections were being shut down ahead of us as we progressed. Sgt Milks stated it’s mostly older people that do that, as they know it’s a sign of respect, and that many younger people don’t realize what’s going on. We arrived at the church and walked towards the front. The officers stood at attention in formation, and I was in the back with the civilians. Many of Berkeley County’s dispatchers were there too, and I knew nearly all of them. When we headed inside I sat with the rest of the police officers (we probably had about seven or eight) from Goose Creek.

While people filed in there was a slideshow of some pictures of Dawn from happier times, and to me it was one of the saddest moments of the whole ceremony. Amazing Grace was sung, some scripture was read, and one of Dawn’s friends read a poem. Then they played ‘Delta Dawn’ - one of Dawn’s favorite songs (appropriate too). Sheriff DeWitt spoke about Dawn and offered some anecdotes from when she was attempting to get hired on at Berkeley. After the Sheriff there was another song, then the eulogy, followed by the benediction and the last call.

“County 138, Central…..”

“County 138, Central…..”

“County 138, Central…..

“Attention all units, County 138 has ended her tour of duty.”

It was very sad. Then we filed out and everyone stood at attention while the casket was brought to the hearse. The cars got in the line for the procession downtown, and some (like us) headed back to work. Several of our units went to the burial at Magnolia Cemetary in Charleston.

There were agencies from all over: Charleston County, Hanahan, NWS Charleston, SC Highway Patrol, Summerville, Goose Creek, Beaufort County, SC State Constables and many others I probably didn’t see or forgot to mention. The show of support was impressive.

WCBD, NBC Channel 2, has coverage and a segment of the event on their website. As usual, they did a great job. At this time (8:05 PM today) none of the other stations have any coverage, though they all had mentioned it last night on their news.

All in all, I felt this whole situation just…well…it sucked. Heart breaking, sad, and certainly avoidable. In less than two months two people have been killed in Goose Creek - both by people who drove under suspension without any hesitation. In my line of work we pull over many people a day whose licenses return suspended when I run them through DMV. It’s unrealistic to expect that everyone who is DUS will not be driving - it’s nearly impossible to enforce. Just as there are people out there driving with no license at all, there will always be those who drive on a suspended license. The state doesn’t suspend a license for the hell of it, there’s always a valid reason. Unfortunately this time, it was a good friend of mine that was the victim. Not only was Dawn the victim, but all the citizens of South Carolina are victims as well. How many more people have to die?

Dawn helped make the often boring, monotonous dispatcher training a little more fun. The first day we met during inprocessing we spent wisecracking and generally trying to have fun. It seems so long ago, yet it wasnt, and still lots have changed. Neither of us have worked for Central Dispatch for several years, but one thing hasn’t changed: Dawn, you were a great friend, I’ll miss you greatly.

Topics: News, Officer Memorials, Public Safety, Work |

One Response to “Sad Event.”

  1. wiccan Says:
    April 25th, 2007 at 1821

    I was so sorry to hear about this police officer. Words really cannot express the angst I feel toward the individual who did that to her.
    I do not think the charge is high enough.
    My condolences to you and your squad.

    Rose

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