Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force carry coffins containing the remains of constables Cornel Grant and Delano Lawrence after a joint funeral at the Hagley Park Road Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston yesterday. The two policemen were brutally slain in Trench Town, St Andrew, last month. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Constables Cornel Grant and Delano Lawrence, who were brutally slain in Trench Town last month, were yesterday hailed as heroes during a joint thanksgiving service.

Yesterday was a sad Father's Day for the three children of Grant and Lawrence, who turned out at the Hagley Park Road Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Andrew to say farewell.

"Today being Father's Day, it is very sad to recognise the void that is left in the lives of the children," said Corporal Raymond Wilson, chairman of the Police Federation. "We must save our children and secure a safe environment for Jamaica."

Grant was the father of two sons - a four-year-old and an eight-month-old. Lawrence had an eight-year-old son.

PM backs cops

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who read the first lesson, urged the nation to stand behind police personnel as they worked to rid the nation of crime.

Grant, 34, and Lawrence, 29, were gunned down on May 23 at Third Street in Trench Town, where they had gone on foot patrol with two other colleagues who managed to survive the attack. The killers made off with the policemen's weapons.

Their deaths have brought to five, the number of police personnel murdered since the start of the year.

"The death of anyone is a sad occasion ... but it is even more painful when we consider that it was someone who put his life on the line to protect us," Trevor MacMillan, minister of national security, said in his tribute.

Rallying charge

MacMillan urged members of the constabulary not to be daunted in the war against crime and violence.

The national security minister lauded residents of Trench Town who he said cooperated with the police. Two arrests have been made. Two other suspects are on the run.

Grant, who was shot in the abdomen two years ago, returned to work four days before his death.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Jevene Bent, who read the second lesson, represented Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin, who is off the island.

Omar Davies, member of parliament for the South St Andrew constituency where the policemen were gunned down, said the community was united in fighting the scourge of crime and violence.

Dedicated servants

Superintendent Delroy Hewitt, commanding officer for the Kingston Western Police Division where the officers served, delivered the eulogy.

Hewitt said Grant, who enlisted in the police force in 1994, received eight commendations for dedicated service.

The commanding officer noted that Lawrence, who joined the constabulary in 2004, was a dedicated public servant. Hewitt said Lawrence always, ironically, volunteered for foot patrol, believing it was a safer beat.

"He has made the ultimate sacrifice," said Hewitt.

Pastor Whain Graham, who delivered the homily, spoke of a nation under siege.

"We shall not allow this nation to deteriorate anymore ... . It takes collective responsibility to ensure that this happens," Graham declared.

Both policemen's bodies were interred at Dovecot Memorial Park in St Catherine.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com