Retired Boston Police Detective Killed In Haiti
BOSTON (CBS) - A Haitian immigrant herself, Nadine Dorcena first met Boston Police detective Yves Dambreville when she was a little girl.
"As a kid growing up you knew that if he was around somewhere, you felt safe," she said. "Growing up here, in this community, he would see if you are in the street late or you're somewhere you're not supposed to be then he'll say, 'What are you doing out here this time of night? Go home!' It wasn't like the authority figure, it was more like a father figure looking out for us in the community."
Dorcena now works for Boston's Haitian Multi-Service Center where she is carrying on Dambreville's legacy of giving back to his city.
"I was telling somebody last night, if you didn't know him, that's when you were a newcomer," she said. "Everyone knew him. It's a great loss for the community."
Dambreville was a dedicated community organizer as well as a police officer. He served as liaison between his fellow Haitians and the administrations of former city mayors Ray Flynn and Tom Menino.
"He was a trumpeter and a champion about all that was good about the Mattapan and Dorchester area," explained longtime friend and colleague Joseph Chery. "I personally always refer to him as the mayor of the Caribbean community. He was the person everybody went to because you knew his ears were always open. He was always willing. His door was wide open."
After 33 years on the force, Dambreville retired in 2012. He immediately got to work building his retirement home back in Haiti, hoping eventually to bring his family back with him. He was also working to help train members of the local police force there.
On Wednesday, here in Boston, they got the awful news that someone had gunned Dambreville down in his beloved native country.
"Everybody is trying to make sense out of this. I think everybody is slowly waking up from a nightmare," said Chery. "Some of us are still in that nightmare thinking that it is just that, that it's not real. No one wants to believe that it really happened."
Details on exactly why he was shot and who is responsible are slow to come out of Haiti.
"Detective Dambreville was a hardworking, dedicated and well respected member of the department." wrote Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. "I was saddened to hear of his passing and send my thoughts and prayers to the entire Dambreville family."