Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — In the 14 years since Philadelphia Police Officer Lauretha Vaird was shot and killed while responding to a bank robbery, little had been done to publicly memorialize her. That changed yesterday.
Police cruisers lined Whitaker Avenue outside the Boys and Girls Club in Feltonville, which is named for Vaird. Inside, 25 members of her 25th District stood at attention as dignitaries recognized her on the anniversary of her death.
The first “Celebration of Life” in Vaird’s honor, billed as an annual event, was a long time coming, friends, family, and colleagues said.
“We missed doing the right thing” by not recognizing Vaird more, said Officer Kimberly Byrd, a founder of the Vaird Foundation, which runs mentoring and college assistance programs. “We’re going to start doing the right thing today.”
The foundation, created three years ago, has distributed $4,000 in college aid; mentoring is for people interested in law enforcement careers.
For 10 years after Vaird’s death, no Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed while responding to a call. Since 2006, six have died after being shot. On Wednesday, an off-duty officer, 23-year-old Martin Campbell, was shot in his left leg.
To some, honoring Vaird is more important now than ever.
“It keeps our morale up,” said Sgt. Kenyatta Lee, who was training to become an officer when Vaird was killed. “It lets us know that your family is always protected, God forbid, if you make the ultimate sacrifice.”
Vaird, a 43-year-old single mother of two boys, was an assistant to special-education teachers at Pickett Middle School in Germantown before becoming a police officer in 1986.
She was known for her sense of humor and for mentoring new officers.
“Laurie was the first one that welcomed me,” said Crystal Williams, then a rookie officer and now a homicide detective.
Williams was recovering from surgery in 1996 when she heard that a woman from the 25th District had been shot. Friends and family called to find out if Williams was the victim.
Instead, it was Vaird, who was shot by a gunman waiting behind a door as she entered a PNC Bank on Rising Sun Avenue during a holdup.
“I remember that as if it was yesterday - and then she was gone,” Williams said.
Retired Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, who helped start the Vaird Foundation, said at yesterday’s event that more is done to honor officers killed on duty today.
Vaird is due the same respect despite the years that have passed, he said.
The event focused on neighborhood children because they were Vaird’s passion, Byrd said.
It included basketball scrimmages between the Boys and Girls Club team and the Police Department team and a book and teddy-bear giveaway.
Seth Williams, who will take office as Philadelphia district attorney tomorrow, spoke to the gathering about the importance of education in fighting crime.
A church service honoring Vaird was scheduled for today.
Johnson echoed the idea that the event was meant to send a sign to families of officers killed in the line of duty that the department will continue to support them.
Vaird’s son Michael Caesar, 31, and his daughters, 6-year-old Alexis and 4-year-old Chase, attended the event.
“This is all about these two little grandchildren right now,” Johnson said.
Other than a visit to the cemetery, Caesar said, he normally spends the anniversary of his mother’s death at home. In recent years, he had been hoping the city would do more to honor his mother and was glad to see yesterday’s memorial.
“She had to pay the ultimate sacrifice to show her greatness,” he said. “She’s got to get something great.”
Copyright 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer