Community Activist on Gillett Death, Officer Trauma Support

Julian Sherrard

A community activist from out west has weighed in on Laddie Gillett’s death. Julian Sherrard is currently the Chairman of the San Ignacio Police Advisory Board, working alongside the department for over two decades. He now finds himself in a difficult position because he is also a close family friend of Laddie’s legal guardian and his children were friends with Laddie.  Sherrard made an appearance on Channel Five’s Open Your Eyes this morning. 

Julian Sherrard, Chairman, San Ignacio Police Advisory Board

“I met with my kids around the family table, and my wife and I, we talked to them. And I told them that not all police are bad. I used painters; we are in the business of art with Orange Gallery. I said, Cayo has a number of painters. And, I said if one of those painters poke somebody I the eye with his paintbrush or shot somebody or something, would you say that all painters are bad? No, not all painters, not all artists are bad because one of them do something. If you have about eighteen hundred police officers, you are bound to have these kinds of things happen. And, I had to explain to them like I told you, these officers join the department, most of them join, because they have the goodness of people at heart. Now, overtime, a great old friend of mine told me something very important. He was a special constable here in San Ignacio, and he served for many years donating his car, and fuel and everything he could. And, he said to me that police men are like garbage men. And, I hate to put those two together, but you will understand why. Garbage men may start off the morning fresh and smelling lovely. He might have taken a shower with a nice soap or something, and he is ready to go. But, in picking up garbage all day long, I guarantee you by the end of the day you know what he smells like. He smells like garbage. A police officer is very similar. He is dealing a lot of time with the scum of the earth, people who are awful human beings, and it is no wonder that at the end of the day this starts to weigh them down. And, at the end of the month, and the end of the year, and at the end of ten years they are carrying this terrible load. And we do not have, unfortunately, enough psychologists and people in the department to help. We do not have enough chaplains to listen to and have a system, an organized system, especially when a particular police officer has gone through a trauma. The poor officer who shot Laddie, I am sure due to a lack of training and over exuberance for his job, made that mistake in that split second. And I am sure he will regret that for the rest of his life. His life is ruined.”