Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Michigan
End of Watch Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Add to My HeroesDonafay Collins
Commander Donafay Collins died after contracting COVID-19 during an outbreak among staff and inmates at the Jail Division 2 facility at 525 Clinton Street in Detroit.
Commander Collins had served with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office for 30 years. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
The Effects of COVID on Law Enforcement
Beginning in early 2020, thousands of law enforcement officers and other first responders throughout the country began to contract COVID-19 during the worldwide pandemic. Due to the nature of their job, law enforcement officers were required to work and interact with the community even as the majority of the country was self-quarantined. As a result, hundreds of officers died from COVID-related illnesses and other complications.
Corrections agencies, in particular, suffered tremendous losses due to the constant and close proximity between the corrections officers and large inmate populations. Since March 2020, ODMP has verified that over 900 law enforcement officers have died as the result of a confirmed or presumed exposure while on duty and continues to work with hundreds of other agencies that have suffered a COVID-related death.
Visit ODMP's COVID-19 memorial listing every officer who has died as a result of a confirmed or presumed exposure.
Bio
- Age 63
- Tour 30 years
- Badge 52
Incident Details
- Cause COVID19
Most Recent Reflection
View all 8 ReflectionsWe had that falling-out over that nonsense with the complaint and it always made me sad because I thought you were just cooler than school. I have so many memories of you that make me smile, especially when you were the sergeant of that unit I was in and you had that bright blue suit that you said you thought was kind of loud, but you rocked that suit totally. I remember running into you on Belle Isle over by the big slide, too, and you giving my sister advice because my nephew wanted to DJ and didn't know how to get into the business. I hope Heaven is treating you well and when I get there someday we can sit down and talk about some of those co-workers that made us roll our eyes sometimes.
Former Dep
WCSD
April 8, 2021
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