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Hundreds of mourners gathered at the church before traveling in a motorcade - which was several miles long - to the Killeen Memorial Park, where Camden was laid to rest.
Camden, 39, died from injuries sustained in a traffic accident that occurred while escorting a funeral procession on Sept. 14.
“When someone loses their life in service of others that is not a life lost - that is a life worth living,” Temple Police Chief Gary Smith told those gathered inside the church.
Camden, he said, lived his life for others, which was shown in many ways, but most noticeable during two fires.
On Feb. 28, 2002, Camden responded to a fire.
“He prepared to do what officers do at fires - direct traffic and let the firefighters do their job,” Smith said. “Then he heard a scream. He pulled four people out at some risk of his own.”
Then on Aug. 29, 2003, Camden responded to another fire at an apartment complex. He and other officers arriving on scene found a woman and her four children trapped by the flames. The woman threw her children down to the officers and then jumped herself as flames showed up behind her.
Within a year and half, Smith said, Camden saved nine people.
“I don’t know of anybody who can claim that,” he said.
Yet, that is something Camden didn’t boast about, he said. Instead Camden was more concerned with helping others.
“As a police officer, the deepest part of losing him boils down to this: David got it, the understanding of policing in America,” Smith said. “Policing is about people - some are bad, most are good.”
Camden’s interaction with others is what made him stand apart from the moment he began working for the Temple Police Department in September 1996 as a jailer.
“It wasn’t long before it dawned on us that David was good at working with people,” Smith said. He elicited soft laughter as he added that it would be a surprise to those in blue uniforms, who filled the church, that some people don’t want to be in jail.
“David with a smile on his face was able to deal with some pretty tough customers,” he said.
Camden received his commission as a police officer in October 1997, and the Rev. Tommy Davis of the First Church of the Nazarene in Belton said it was a happy day in Camden’s life. He worked on the Night Watch patrol and also with the Community Oriented Police Service.
“David was a peace maker; he had a calming effect,” said Davis, who knew Camden well. “He brought people together.”
Camden spoke with his pastor once about riding his motorcycle.
“What I enjoy about my motorcycle is it gives me time to relax. Most of all, it gives me time to be alone and talk to God,” Davis recalled Camden saying.
About a week before Camden’s death, Davis said he asked the officer how everything was going between God and him.
“He said, ‘Everything’s OK between me and God,’” Davis said.
Camden was an adventurous, fun-loving person and that was a side his two sons knew.
After watching a television newscast with Camden’s youngest son, Coleton, Davis said the 8-year-old turned to him and said, “My daddy is so much fun, I think Jesus wanted him in heaven to entertain him.”
From the church, officers from throughout Texas in cars and on motorcycles, soldiers and Patriot Freedom Riders escorted Camden to Killeen past city employees standing on sidewalks and residents standing outside their houses to pay their respect. Officers and firefighters stopping traffic at intersections stood at attention.
At the cemetery, the men and women in blue stood row by row before Camden’s casket. Officers folded the flag on top of Camden’s casket and Smith presented it to his parents. Smith then presented two folded flags to Camden’s sons - 16-year-old Christopher and Coleton.
After a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps, the crackle of a police radio could be heard.
“End of watch, 498, Officer David Camden,” said the woman’s voice across the radio. “We wish you Godspeed to your final destination. We will miss you.”
jsicking@temple-telegram.com