Memorial to Keith D. Williams, Sr

End of Watch: June 4, 2020
Rank: Senior Officer  Badge No.3432
Age: 53    Years of Service: 31
Location of Death: Hospital Covid Death
Duty Assignment: Third District, School Safety Division

 Circumstance:  

Senior Police Officer Keith Williams passed away on June 4, 2020, from COVID-19 complications.

Biography:

Officer Williams was a 31-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department. His last assignment was with the MPD’s School Safety Division. Officer Williams began his career in DC Government as a custodian with DC Public Schools before joining the Metropolitan Police Department. He started at MPD in 1989 at the Seventh District and served in various assignments until his retirement in 2017.  Williams was reappointed as a Senior Police Officer and served as a School Resource Officer in the Third District until his passing. Officer Williams is survived by his wife, four children and granddaughter.

Articles from the Washington Post – transcribed by Dave Richardson, MPD/Ret.

Washington Post article dated June 6, 2020, page B1  FIRST KNOWN COVID-19 DEATH FOR DC POLICE

The Metropolitan Police Department has a heavy heart today for the passing of one of our senior police officers,” Chief Peter Newsham said. He said Officer Keith Williams, a married father of four who joined the force in 1989 and lived in Maryland, died Thursday while “surrounded by loved ones.” A longtime D.C. police officer has become the first member of the department known to have succumbed to complications from covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, officials said Friday.

Appearing with D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) at a news briefing on the municipal response to the pandemic, Newsham said Williams “served in various assignments throughout the city” during his career and most recently worked as a school resource officer in the department’s Third District.
The designation “senior police officer” is given to officers who retire from the force but subsequently return to the job. Williams rejoined the department after retiring in 2017, said Gregory Pemberton, chairman of the D.C. police union.

At least 140 D.C. police officers have tested positive for covid-19, and all but 27 have returned to work, officials said. Overall, nearly 9,200 people in the city have tested positive for the virus, and 479 have died. At Friday’s briefing, the District’s top health official said June 19 is the earliest the city could move into its second phase of reopening from the pandemic shutdown. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health, said she was recommending that Bowser move to the second phase of recovery after seeing two more consecutive weeks of decline in the community spread of the virus and hospitals continuing to run below 80 percent of their capacity.

The mayor has not yet decided what restrictions to lift in the second phase of recovery, but Nesbitt said it would probably involve restaurants and nonessential retailers allowing customers inside with social distancing and allowing more than 10 people to gather. Nesbitt also announced benchmarks that could trigger additional coronavirus restrictions, including hospitals running at more than 80 percent capacity for a week and three consecutive days of increases in new cases.

But she and Bowser said it is unlikely they would re-implement a stay-at-home order and other restrictions that were in place in April and May. Instead, the benchmarks would trigger more narrow measures to contain the virus such as by canceling elective surgeries if hospitals are reaching their capacity.

On Friday, authorities in the Washington region reported 1,667 new coronavirus cases, bringing the area’s total to 114,501 confirmed infections.

There were 46 new deaths in the region, raising the toll to 4,634. In the District, there were 79 new cases, bringing the total to 9,199. The city reported four additional deaths – two women in their 80s and two middle-aged men.

Maryland reported 912 new cases, bringing its total to 56,770. The state had 34 new deaths, raising its toll to 2,702.

In Montgomery County, there were 208 new cases. Montgomery now has a total of 12,434 confirmed infections. Nine new deaths were reported there, for a total of 645. Prince George’s County reported 229 new cases, for a total of 16,169 cases, and seven additional deaths, bringing the county’s toll to 587 fatalities.

In Virginia, there were 676 new cases, bringing the state’s total to 48,532. Virginia had eight new deaths, bringing its toll to 1,453. Fairfax County reported 89 new cases, for a total of 11,904, and seven new deaths, for a total of 410.