– weeks after being involved in car accident

ASSISTANT Police Commissioner Derrick Josiah died yesterday at the Woodlands Hospital in Georgetown, after checking into the facility for a regular checkup in keeping with his monitoring following his involvement in a car accident early in November.

Josiah had not been performing the duties of ‘A’ Division Commander subsequent to his involvement in the early morning accident, whilst travelling from his home on the West Coast of Demerara to perform presidential duties at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
As word of his death circulated yesterday, dozens of teary-eyed male and female personnel of various ranks showed up at the Woodlands Hospital; and some were so overwhelmed with grief that they could neither be controlled nor consoled by their colleagues.
Josiah’s family members also gathered at the hospital, the death of their loved one coming as a real shocker to them as to the entire Guyana Police Force. And the reaction of both colleagues and relatives could not have told a more poignant tale.
This reporter also observed a few residents of Uitvlugt gathering at the hospital, crying as they commented on the passing of the kind and accommodating senior police officer Derrick Josiah.

Following the incident in November, Josiah had been rushed to the hospital, where he was being treated for a fractured shoulder and knee, and for pains occasioned by the misfortune.
Since that incident, the assistant police commissioner had been receiving regular check-ups and monitoring, to ensure complete recovery. There had been no physical sign that Josiah’s life was in danger after the accident.
The task of controlling the throng of police personnel, relatives and civilians was an uphill one, as persons who had been very close to the assistant commissioner received advice against heading to the top floor of the building where the wrapped body lay on his hospital bed awaiting arrival of the hearse from the Merriman Funeral Parlour.
During Josiah’s absence from active duty, Assistant Police Commissioner George Vyphuis had been manning ‘A’ Division. Josiah had taken over command of that division from Vyphuis, who had been moved to Force Operations.
Speaking with the media at the Woodlands Hospital yesterday afternoon, Vyphuis related that the police were having an annual luncheon for the trainees of the force at

Eve Leary yesterday when he got word that Josiah had slipped into unconsciousness.
He said management of the Force knew that the assistant commissioner was scheduled to get his regular checkups at Woodlands Hospital, and that Josiah was going to be there at the time their ceremony was in progress. The police had earlier sent an ambulance to Josiah’s home to bring him to the hospital.
Having received the call that his colleague had fallen into a state of unconsciousness, Vyphius said he informed the commissioner of police about the development and then headed over to the hospital.
He said that when he arrived there, he was greeted with the sad and unexpected news that 51-year-old Derrick Josiah had died, and that his body was lying on a hospital bed waiting to be wrapped and taken away by the undertakers.
Vyphuis has described Josiah’s death as a blow to the Guyana Police Force and the entire country as a whole. He said Guyana has lost a future commissioner of police. Josiah was described as a very intelligent, courageous and vibrant police officer, who possessed all the qualities and criteria to become the country’s commissioner of police.
Vyphuis said it was his personal view that Josiah did not deserve to die the way he did, and he would really be missed by all those who had to interact with him.
Meanwhile, retired Assistant Police Commissioner Gavin Primo, said Josiah had been able to put the Guyana Police Force on a better standing with his ability to bridge the gap between the public and the police.
Derrick Josiah had also been a minister of the Gospel, and had brought his values into his everyday dealings with his colleagues and members of the public.
Primo recalled that Josiah would usually make lots of jokes and have everyone laughing lustily, yet his face was always serious.