Kevin Collins, the 35-year-old police detective gunned down in Pine Bluff last week, was laid to rest and honored as a hometown hero Saturday.
Collins was a five-year veteran of the Pine Bluff Police Department and a member of the violent crimes division. He was killed in a shootout Monday.
State and city officials, along with Collins' friends and family members, praised his service to the public at a ceremony in the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Collins was passionate about everything he did and a hero to his family before becoming a superhero as a police officer, his cousin Jimmy Cunningham said. He recalled Collins' accomplishments, including becoming Policeman of the Year after just two years on the force for rescuing an elderly woman from a burning building.
"You don't have to go to Wakanda to find Black Panther," Cunningham said. "He was that Pine Bluff superhero."
Pine Bluff Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant announced, to roaring applause, that Collins' call number, 520, would be retired from circulation out of respect for his contributions.
Collins also worked as a security guard at the New Life Church campus in Pine Bluff. But he wasn't just the tall man in the doorway keeping the church safe from any riffraff, pastor Matt Mosler said in his eulogy. Collins became an indispensable part of the church family, and could often be seen holding babies and encouraging emotional teens.
Many people had a great deal of hope in what Pine Bluff was becoming, and Collins was an asset to a changing city, Mosler said.
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"Kevin knew that Pine Bluff could be better. He reached kids in crisis and paid the ultimate price," he said. "I can't help but believe that Kevin's death was a part of God's plan to bring about revival in the city that he loved."
Mosler announced that a scholarship for students pursuing degrees in criminal justice at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where Collins attended, has been set up in Collins' name.
Collins' loved ones took solace Saturday in knowing that Collins had accepted Christ at an early age. Pine Bluff Alderman Ivan Whitfield, a former police chief in the city, said Collins had been determined to become a sergeant, but "on Monday, he received his permanent change order" and no longer has to worry about upgrading from a silver badge to a gold one.
"He's up there walking in the streets paved in gold," Whitfield said.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge described Collins as a humble public servant with a passion for community and family.
"His brothers and sisters in blue can continue to honor his memory by standing in the gap where Kevin once proudly stood," Rutledge said. "Another angel has blue wings."
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said Collins was a "commanding force and a gentle giant" known for his professionalism, diligence, vision and determination. He had the respect and trust of everyone he met and a heart for young people. He also served as Washington's special driver and escort, and was like an extension of her family, Washington said.
"He could not stand to see wrong and not put forth the effort to make it right," she said. "He gave his life protecting the citizens."
Washington said it doesn't matter how tough or strong you are -- the death of an influential person makes an impact. Washington quoted from a Maya Angelou poem: "When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder."
In Pine Bluff, she said, a great tree has fallen.
