This thread has been neglected. And it shouldn’t be. This epitaph is by one of the supervisors who responded to this officer being shot. May he Rest In Peace.
I was there yesterday. I was one of the first few supervisors to arrive after the dreaded “officer down” call came over the radio. I watched as my brother laid on the ground while paramedics tried feverishly to save his life. I saw the tremendous amount of his blood staining the very street he took an oath to protect. I watched as they loaded my brother onto the gurney and into the helicopter. I asked a deputy to stand over and preserve the shell casing from the bullet that ended his life. And while this man was very well known in the department and the community, I personally did not know him that well. I’d met him several times, and exchanged pleasantries with him just weeks ago at the office. But whether I knew him well or didn’t know him at all, he is my brother. He took the same oath, wore the same badge, and patrolled the same streets that I’ve dedicated my life to protect. My heart is heavy and my mind is filled with images that will never be erased. I’m sick to my stomach that this hero, this man, my brother, was taken from his family, friends and community, so tragically and senselessly. I pray that his loved ones and coworkers that knew him be swept up in the comfort that he died doing what he loved, that they remember his religious strength and determination to bring his Sikh faith and our cultures closer together, and that they honor his life by striving to be the kind, gentle and generous soul I knew him to be. Deputy Dhaliwal did not believe in death. His faith believes in birth, life, and rebirth. He believed that the quality of his next life depends on the law of Karma, and how he lived this life dictates how he would spend his next life. And from what I know of him, his next life will be better than the one that just ended. “Sat Sri Akal” my brother, your work in this life is complete, and I am honored to have met you.