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“The Police Dept. has lost one of its greatest”: Inspector Fitzroy Yearwood

A host of friends, relatives and coworkers from the Belize Police Department are at this time mourning the loss of a well-known and well-liked female police sergeant, WPS Kimari Tucker, who suffered a massive stroke while going to attend a concert in Belize City last Saturday, March 29.

This past Tuesday, April 1, Sergeant Kimari Tucker unfortunately passed away at around 10:30 a.m. at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where she had been admitted since Sunday, March 30.

While her family grapples with the circumstances of her unexpected death, the Belize Police Department is also grieving the loss of the exemplary officer who had earned numerous awards during her extensive tenure and had a quite positive rapport with the public at large.

Today, Amandala spoke with her close friend and former coworker, Inspector Fitzroy Yearwood, who heads the Police Department’s Eastern Division Communication Center, and he told us that he had known WPS Tucker for almost 30 years, and although she had been diagnosed with a hypertensive condition, the career officer was one of the best and most passionate individuals that has ever served the department.

Yearwood said, “Ms. Tucker was suffering from a case of hypertension. Doctors recommended that she attend a follow-up clinic for it and ever since, she has been in and out of the hospital, but she regularly visited the doctor because of her condition.”

He cited that his longtime friend was a decorated and versatile officer who made the most of her dream job during a stellar 25-year career in the department.

Yearwood commented, “I met her about 27 years ago and we have been friends ever since. She had a robust career and was looking forward to becoming an inspector like myself, because that was her aim. She was promoted to the rank of corporal in 2001 and to the rank of sergeant in 2007. Since then, she was posted at several formations, including Orange Walk, Belmopan and the Caribbean Shores Police Station.

“She was at Patrol Branch for a while, as well as the Communications Center and the Crimes Investigation Branch. She was very versed, because she also worked with the Traffic Branch and the Community Policing Unit. I must say that she enjoyed doing policing; it was everything to her. She dreamed, ate and slept policing. As a matter of fact, she joined the Police Department at the tender age of 17. She had a passion for policing and would stop at nothing to help people in the community”.

According to Inspector Yearwood, the loss of his colleague will undoubtedly take a toll on the Police Department which, he asserts, has lost one of its greatest officers.

“It’s a tremendous loss to us because Ms. Tucker was more like an on-the-job teacher. When I passed out in 1997, I was posted under her; she was my supervisor and she taught me basic policing, including how to make an arrest, how to prepare a case file and how to give testimony in court. That is how good she was at what she did.

The department has lost one of their greatest, somebody that I believe could have imparted plenty knowledge to the younger officers who just joined the force”, Yearwood stated.

He recounted what he will remember most about Sergeant Tucker, saying “It has to be that smile every morning. She was my deputy at the Caribbean Shores police station and whenever I reach in the morning, the first thing she would do is smile and ask about my family. That’s the kind of person she was; she thought of your well-being more than hers. For us as her family, it is a tremendous loss; for the police department, it’s also a tremendous loss, but for the nation of Belize, it’s also a great loss because she was a dedicated officer, one of the few.”

Tucker leaves behind 3 children — 2 boys and 1 girl. She will be laid to rest with full honors this Saturday, April 5, in Belize City.

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