For one last time Saturday evening, an emergency dispatcher radioed for Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall.
The silence that followed was deafening.
“Base to Unit 31H1,” a dispatcher radioed.
More than 100 officers from Pittsburgh and beyond gathered on Brighton Road in front of the Zone 1 police station for the slain officer’s final roll call.
“Base to Unit 31H1, Officer Calvin Hall, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, badge No. 4673,” a dispatcher radioed, followed by more silence.
Hall, 36, died Wednesday from gunshot wounds he suffered three days earlier while off duty and visiting friends in the city’s Homewood section. The end of watch ceremony Saturday happened at 8 p.m. — what would have been the end of Hall’s shift.
Final roll call for Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Officer Calvin Hall, who died Wednesday from gunshot wounds he sustained while off duty three days prior. pic.twitter.com/rddmWPZ5d9
— Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) July 21, 2019
Chief Scott Schubert’s voice came over the radio.
“Official 3 to base,” he radioed to dispatch. “Unit 31H1, Officer Calvin Hall, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, badge No. 4673, is out of service.”
A dispatcher announced the end of Hall’s watch.
“Attention: Unit 31H1, Officer Calvin Hall, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, badge No. 4673, is out of service. End of watch: July 17, 2019. Lest we forget. This concludes the final roll call. Resume normal transmission.”
Officers were called to attention, and a bagpiper played, walking as he went, so the sound waned. Officers began to disperse. One sobbed and clung to a fellow officer. Among Hall’s family and friends, someone wailed.
The short ceremony in the thick, humid heat comes two days ahead of Hall’s funeral, which is scheduled for Tuesday at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland. A viewing will be held at the same venue from noon to 8 p.m. Monday.
