Another blow to Lowcountry law enforcement
According to Thursday's Post and Courier:
Tillman was a dispatcher for the county for about a year before she was hired at the Sheriff's Office in August 2005.
She graduated from the police academy in December 2005 and seemed "bound and determined to prove herself. She wanted to prove to me she could cut it," McElvogue said.
The show of deputies at the hospital was proof that Tillman earned the respect of her peers, he said. They appreciated that Tillman had the ability to calm people down but still hold her own if a situation escalated or a person became aggressive, McElvogue said.
Practical jokes - moving her patrol car or teasingly calling her "the pirate" when eye surgery required her to wear a black eye patch - didn't rattle Tillman, he said. She laughed it off or pulled her own pranks, McElvogue said.
McElvogue praised Tillman's dependability and devotion to the job. She refused to sit out of work, even when she wore the eye patch, McElvogue said. She asked a reserve female deputy to drive the patrol car and she rode shotgun.
Local blogger Signal 46 knew her personally (as did a friend of mine):
I last ‘talked’ to Dawn via text message the Friday before the funeral for Kilo 11 and Kilo 15. At one point she had said that her family had wanted her to leave the force, I guess because they felt it was too dangerous. Though we’ll never know I wonder what would - or would not - have happened had she taken their advice? Would she have taken they day off on Sunday to go out of town, or would she have been busy doing something else? It’s human nature to wonder how things might have been had little things been different in the past, unfortunately nothing can be done about the past and one must press onward. Such is life, as we all know.See what he had to say about it on Tuesday and today.
I understand that life isn’t fair, but more often than not it seems the good ones are taken too soon and the perpetrators of the acts are often left unscathed. It saddens me to know that whatever the outcome, whether she lives or dies, the Dawn I know, the Dawn who is my friend, isn’t here any more. Dawn, I’m gonna miss you!
She, along with our other recent fallen officers, will be missed by many they knew and served across the Lowcountry.
Take a few moments to show your appreciation for our local law enforcement in what has been rather trying times for many of them. Right now, a lot of them need it.
I first met Dawn in 2002 on a trip from Virginia to visit her brother Roy. Her first impression of a trul authentic nut case! I only got five years of her tortuous teasing, and I would give up all of my tomorrows, for just one more minute; just one more teasing.
I miss you so much, Dawn, like the rest of your family and friends. I just wanted to write it down, so I can begin to accept your death, and believe your funeral actually happened today. Of course, you could always steal my car keys again, mess with my head a bit, then laugh at me in my confusion! See you again some day.
Mike Poisson
Transplanted from California to Virginia.
mikecalginia@cox.net