Dalana Robinson
We were deeply saddened to read of the sudden passing of Dalana Robinson, who had served as a Police Cadet in the Bermuda Police Service from 1993-1995, and then for 2 years as a Constable from August 1995 – October 1997.
Dalana died suddenly in April this year at the age of 45 while residing in California.
We learned about this tragic news after reading a most poignant article in the Royal Gazette published on 2nd July 2022, describing how a group of her fellow former Police Cadets, Yolanda Bashier, Derrika Burns and Gladwina O’Mara, all of whom served together from 1993-1995 were rallying around Dalana’s mother.
The group raised $1,303 to donate to Dalana’s mother, Dawnelle, to assist with her affairs and expenses. Following the collection Yolanda still felt that they could do more to remember her friend. “I wanted to honour her publicly. I wanted it to be known what she meant to all of us.”
There was clearly a very close bond between these young Cadets, and after Dalana’s tragic passing they were aiming for a way of honouring her, and bandied around several ideas before they agreed on one suggested by another former cadet, Melvin Douglas.
“When we heard of her passing, I came up with the idea to start a group chat on Facebook Messenger, and it just went from there,” said YolandaBashir. “And so it was us remembering Dalana, obviously trying to come to grips with what happened and then it materialised into a donation.
Young Cadet Dalana Robinson
In the Royal Gazette article (CLICK HERE to view it) Derrika Burns, who was a cousin of Dalana’s says, “We were all cadets between 1993 and 1995 and we were a very close-knit group. We’re still in touch with each other today. Dalana was part of that group and we all remember her as a very meticulous person – in her appearance, in her work. She was very dedicated to whatever she put her mind to. We just remember her as a very beautiful person inside and out.”
EDITORS NOTE - The above photograph was taken of our BPS Cadets and their Trainers during their trip to Toronto in 1994, when they were invited to visit Toronto Metropolitan Police Chief, William "Bill" McCormack in his office. Mr. McCormack had served in the Bermuda Police as a young constable from 1955-1959 before emigrating to Canada and rising through the ranks of the Toronto Police. CLICK HERE to view an article about Mr. McCormack in our "Then and Now" column.
Gladwina O’Mara is quoted as saying, ““In cadets, although we were together two years, some of us were in high school together with Dalana so there was that connection prior to us joining. And even those who met each other for the first time as cadets, we formed such a strong bond because we did so much together. Within that two-year period of time we were together 24/7 pretty much daily, as we pursued our education at the same time at Bermuda College …. and that connection still hasn’t been lost.”
Our former colleague, retired Sergeant Linda Perry was in charge of this group of Police Cadets and she is also quoted as saying that Dalana was “meticulous in everything that she did”; someone who would always defend “what she thought or knew was right”. Linda also comments that this group of young Cadets were a pleasure to work with and they worked together as a team.
The Royal Gazette article reports on the fact that Dalana was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 16, and that at age 22 she had a major operation followed by medication which helped her through until 7 years ago when her Crohn’s went into remission. Sadly, her Crohn’s reappeared last October although it will probably be several months before the exact cause of Dalana’s passing will be confirmed.