Orlando, Florida: An Orlando police sergeant who was gunned down was remembered yesterday at her funeral service as someone who put everyone at ease with her infectious smile and made every effort to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community it served.
Sgt. Debra Clayton read books to children at elementary schools, would clean the homes of elderly residents and was a motherly figure to young people lacking parental guidance, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina and U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a former Orlando police chief.
“She was forever using her resources and others’ too, anyone else she could bring along, to help somebody else,” said Demings, who promoted Clayton to rank of sergeant in 2007. “Buying washing machines, food, clothing, looking for housing for people who didn’t have it ...Debra Clayton was willing to do more than she was paid to do.”
Mina said he was posthumously promoting the 42-year-old Clayton to the rank of lieutenant.
Clayton loved programmes that involved working with young children or helping people because “it helped humanize police officers,” Mina said.
The service was attended by Governor Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and hundreds of officers and deputies from all over Florida.
Before the service, friends and family members wept openly as they walked by the American-flag-draped open casket.
