A woman inspector tasked with planning thanksgiving service for fallen cops said she is getting wary of planning funerals for officers and their loved ones.
The senior cop said she had been rocked to the core by the tragic death of District Constable Herbert Gayle. She said the last time he hugged and kissed her was still fresh in her memory.
Gayle succumbed to injuries he sustained during a motorcycle crash in Harbour View on Friday, December 23, 2022.
The inspector was among members of the constabulary who were gathered at the St Andrew South Police Division headquarters on Saturday, December 24, 2022, mourning the death of the crime fighter.
The woman inspector said she was at the hospital when he died.
“Right now, we are in a somber mood. We are saddened. This comes like a recurring decimal. We buried one of our officers who died by accident recently. It’s the same traumatic accident. It’s heart-rending and sad, especially for me, because I have to do all the funerals, and it is getting really overwhelming. Honestly, I am getting really tired of burying officers. I am tired of it,” she said.
Hunts Bay Police
The Inspector described the 10-year veteran of the force as an energetic and enthusiastic hard worker.
Another colleague, Claude Hanson, remembered Gayle as a good singer.
“There are times when he would participate in church activities for us. A very good officer, excellent officer, and hard-working,”
Claude Hanson
Still, Hanson said the morale of the staff is business as usual. But that doesn’t mean people are not hurting because not all of us will wear our emotions on our faces.