Headland officer named Alabama Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

We thank everyone for their sympathy concerning Dexter’s death. We’ve all discussed this numerous times and this will be my personal last post to this article, therefore I would like to point out a few things. 1. Each posting stated “no disrespect to the officer who was receiving the award or the ceremony. 2ndly .. our whole point was to ask this journalist/s to show more tact when writing articles even if they were quotes. 3rd. re-read the last paragraph, it states “Him seeing his fellow officer next to him get shot in the head…“ The person next to him was Dexter. 4th. The unkind remarks and accusations of where the Hammond family as during this ceremony were uncalled for.
The friends and family of Dexter Hammond laid him to rest with his Heavenly Father in April 2009, since that time there have been numerous award/memorial ceremonies. His widow was at most of them. There is another ceremony in May, his wife and son will be attending that. How many times would you want to re-live the death of your husband or loved one. I am sure if you have ever lost someone you loved you would understand that the memory is kept alive in the heart and by moving forward with your life you are honoring that loved one. While all of us close to Dexter remember him in our own way each day, we don’t need to have articles such as this popping up whenever some sensationalism is needed. It is not necessary for others to attack others for the sake of making a statement which wasn’t correct in the first place. Let this family have some peace…..

None of these comments that have been left has disrespected anyone or their families.  These comments that were made, were directed toward the DISRESPECT from the media and the choice of words that the MEDIA used.  Not any of the comments has any particular person pointed out.  READ MORE CAREFULLY AND CHOOSE YOUR WORDS MORE RESPECTFULLY.

I hope everyone understands we are not dishonoring the award that this officer received, we are simply trying to express the hurt and pain this article placed on the friends and family of Dexter Hammond. If you knew Dexter you would certainly know that he would not have liked the way in which you described his unfortunate death. If you know his wife and son, you would know that to describe this horrific event with such terms as “shot in the head” was completely inappropriate and simply cold. If you were quoting someone when you wrote this, then you should have had enough responsibility to leave the comment out. I do not believe in sensationalism when it is at the expense of others.

Just reread what was written after seeing family’s comment… just thought I’d point out that those were the quotes of the police chief in Headland/how he apparently described it to the reporter. Not making judgement call, just pointing that out.
Terrible tragedy. Sorry for your loss.

As the wife of officer Hammond,I would like to know why it was necessary to write such a cold and blunt description of my husbands death. To state “shot in the head” is not the way this story should have been told. I would like to think that the selling of newpapers is not the idea when it comes to reporting stories. What if my 8 year old son picked up this paper today and read the coldness in which his Fathers death was reported today? What if one of his classmates overhears their parents talking about this article or innocently remarks “isn’t Cody in your class?“ and then the child remarks back to Cody… These are things that need to be taken into consideration when writing and reporting the news. We have suffered enough since the day of Dexter’s death and we respectively ask that you let him and us rest in peace. This is not to disrespect the award that was given to Officer Grooms, this is about my son and other family members as well as close friends who do not want to continuiously hear how Dexter died stated in such cold terms.