THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) will accord late 23-year-old Constable 21600 Dorwin Pitman a full military funeral in his home village in Essequibo tomorrow, since he died in the line of duty on Monday last. Constable Pitman collapsed and  died in the community of North Sophia, Georgetown while chasing after a detainee who had escaped from lawful custody. His dead body was found in an alleyway.
A post-mortem performed by government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh last Wednesday determined his death was due to heart failure.

Police officers and other ranks will travel to the Cinderella County for the funeral and burial of the late cop. His mother disclosed on Wednesday that the GPF had given assurance
that her son would be accorded a military funeral since he had died in the line of duty.

A GPF source confirmed yesterday that the fallen rank would be given a military funeral in keeping with standard operating procedures that apply whenever a policeman or woman loses his or her life while defending the state and its citizens.

The policeman’s death on Monday had drawn speculation that he had been electrocuted by an illegal connection which was discovered in close proximity to where his body had been found.
And four days after his death, his colleagues have still been unsuccessful in recapturing the escapee he had been chasing at the time of his demise. Moreover, nobody has as yet been arrested for the illegal connection which was widely perceived to be responsible for his death.

The late Constable Pitman will be the fourth policeman to have received a military funeral within eight months. The first two were Constables Ledon Aaron and Marlon Letlow, who were killed while on patrol in a mining district in 2012. Then there was the late Corporal Romain Cleto who was killed some two months ago when a gunman open fire on him minutes after he had exited a police patrol vehicle on Avenue of the Republic in Georgetown.

In a recent discussion with the relatives of a policemen killed in the interior location, this publication was told that the man’s relatives were informed by a functionary at GPF headquarters that they would not receive any compensation because investigations into his death had revealed that he and the other cop had been killed while they were in process of carrying out illegal activities.

Efforts made on Friday to get the GPF to confirm or deny this allegation were met with an advisory that this publication should approach the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since the $1M compensation for loss of life in the line of duty comes from the Government of Guyana. Efforts to contact the permanent secretary of that ministry proved futile, since we were informed that she was locked in a meeting.

The relatives of Constable Pitman would, however, be receiving his full benefits, including his computed years of service and other acquired and calculated benefits, and the $1M compensation from the Guyana Government.

The standard operating procedures of the Guyana Police Force mandate that the closest surviving relative of the fallen rank would be recipient of the compensation. In the case of Constable Pitman, he has a child and a child mother who are alive. His mother is also alive, just as was the case with the death of Corporal Cleto.

Cleto’s relatives, this publication was told a few months ago, have come to an agreement among themselves in respect to the awarding of the compensation, and that process is underway.