Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Officer remembered as leader, teacher
Delray Beach Police Officer Christine Braswell was tough but knew how to joke around, former students and police colleagues recalled Sunday at her funeral.
More than 800 fellow police officers, former students, family and friends packed into Atlantic Community High School to remember Braswell. Police came from all over South Florida, including Monroe County, on a rainy Sunday.
The 40-year-old died on April 9 after a motor scooter she and fellow officer Bernenda Marc were riding on was hit by a car in Key West.
Sunday’s service was the first time Marc had put on her uniform since before the accident, she said.
“Christine was the type of person that you could not have a bad day around,” Marc said. “If she knew that you were down and you’re failing or you needed more motivation, she was that type of person to get you back up.”
Diego Rackauskas, a former student of Braswell’s from the Delray Beach Police Explorers, recalled a time when Braswell helped him prank his dad into thinking he had gotten kicked out of boot camp.
“Not only did she teach us to be strong and serious, but to smile, laugh and joke around,” Rackauskas said.
Braswell joined the Delray police department in 2005, where she specialized in crisis management and teaching younger recruits. She attended at University of Tampa and taught as a field training instructor at the police academy at Broward College.
Pictures at the ceremony showed Braswell holding her rifle, a testament to her status as the only female sniper on the S.W.A.T. Team in Palm Beach County.
“She was a badass,” said Delray Police Chief Jeff Goldman. “Braswell was a born leader and protector.”
Goldman lauded Braswell as an officer and teacher who could balance pushing her students and peers while also being kind.
“She has made such a difference in so many people’s lives,” said her father, Dan Braswell, at the ceremony.
Marc was hospitalized with critical injuries and is due to return to work in four months.