'What Has Happened to Our Beloved St. Petersburg?' Mayor Asks at Officer's Funeral

ST. PETERSBURG - The St. Petersburg Police Department did not have the time to heal from the loss of two officers fatally shot in January, when Officer David Crawford was gunned down last Monday, on Feb. 21.

St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster asked thousands of mourners at Crawford's funeral today: “What has happened to our beloved St. Petersburg?”

"We are here again, paying respects to a fallen hero and taking comfort in each other," Foster said. "But this time is different. The wound is reopened. Our hearts are still aching. We have been kicked again... 'Not this time,' we cried out. 'Not again. Not our department. Not our officer. Not our city. Not again.' ''

That sense of loss and bewilderment was reflected in most all of the speeches Tuesday at Crawford funeral. Friends and colleagues expressed anger, sadness, bewilderment.

They described Crawford as a "crusty veteran" known for his pointed candor and over-the-top compassion; he was that one-of-a-kind cop with a "heart of gold."

Foster spoke after mourners heard stories of Crawford singlehandedly cornering armed suspects as well as scaling a highway embankment to rescue a couple's cat. In 1995, when Officer Crawford found out people could not reach the Family Crises Line when making a collect call, he worked helped to change that.

Crawford's funeral service was held at First Baptist of St. Petersburg, the same church where Sgt. Thomas Baitinger and K9 Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz were eulogized in January. The setting "is a place all too familiar, with an audience all too recognizable, in a setting all too gut wrenching,” Foster said at the podium.

The mayor touched on themes familiar from the previous officers' funeral: He pledged to Crawford's wife, Donna, and daughter, Amanda, that the city and the police department will always look after them.

Dr. Walter Draughon III was the final speaker at the funeral service. "I don’t have many answers," said Draughon, who provided the concluding remarks. "I am just as bewildered, angry and grief-stricken as you," he said.

He told mourners that Jesus, in his darkest hour, did not have his questions answered or his pain erased either. He, too, faltered and asked, Why?

But Jesus was able to make a choice, "to commit my spirit... everything I give, I give to You," Draughon said, referring to God.

"I come with choice," Draughon said. "To whom will you turn? God makes law enforcement officers into peacemakers, one step at a time."

"We have a choice to be bound by sadness and fear and anger, or to turn to the Almighty... Rise up, St. Petersburg. I am the God of peace. I am with you. Rise up."