"It's been a long few weeks for the whole department," Greenwood Police Chief, Will Dawson said. "Starting out with Deputy Cooper's death, and the search for Kina, finding her was very emotional."
Then, in the last week, officers received more hard news.
"Then, we had an officer here diagnosed with cancer, then we moved on to Jennifer Nelms' death, the teacher in Greenwood," Chief Dawson said. "It's been one hit after another and it's been a tough time for everyone here."
Despite the hardships, the Greenwood Police have faced, Chief Dawson said he is proud and thankful for the unity within his department.
"We've learned just how much we have each other's backs, how much other departments have our back," Chief Dawson said. "I hope that they see we have their back."
He said the amount of support from everyone is what keeps them going.
"You see so many negative things on television about interaction between law enforcement and the public, and it's just not that way here," Chief Dawson said.
Chief Dawson said his department plans to keep going, and he hopes they'll have some positives come their way.
"Obviously we pray for some positives to come, and to avoid any more negative issues," Chief Dawson said. "We know it's impossible to totally avoid those, but we could use a little breath of fresh air for a little while. We will deal with things as they come, take it step by step."