Colleagues of a veteran of the Rotherhithe community policing team who was “like a dad” have paid tribute to him after he died tragically young on Boxing Day last year.
Police community support officer (PCSO) Albert Tedam died of cancer aged only 55, leaving behind a wife, two sons and two daughters. He had been with the Met police for nearly seventeen years, most of them in the Rotherhithe safer neighbourhood team (SNT).
“He was very hard-working, never late and hardly ever off sick,” police constable Paul Green told the News this week. “Even when he was so ill, two weeks before his death, he was still coming in.”
PCSO Tedam “had a way of talking to people. He knew the Rotherhithe community so well, he was really approachable to everyone,” PC Green added.
Another PCSO, who said he did not want to be named, said that when he moved to Rotherhithe from another part of the police force, PCSO Tedam showed him round the area and told him about all the local miscreants.
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of our beloved friend and colleague, PCSO Albert Tedam. Albert passed away on Boxing Day, leaving a wife & four children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time. Stand down Albert, your duty is done. pic.twitter.com/xo8bEd6YyF
— Rotherhithe SNT (@MPSRotherhithe) December 31, 2021
“He knew everyone – from the local drug dealers to the local cafe,” the PCSO said. “We’ve lost that real local knowledge now and that can never be replaced.” But PCSO Tedam didn’t just have practical knowledge – he was also proud of his master’s degree in criminology.
There were fourteen in the Rotherhithe SNT office, making them “very tight-knit”. PCSO Tedam was “like the dad of the family”.
Brandon Estate resident PCSO Tedam originally came from Ghana, the two officers said, and was proud of his heritage and links to his home country. He was also a devout Christian and “lived by the Old Testament”.
Before he joined the police, PCSO Tedam worked at the Royal Mail sorting office and at Heathrow looking at suspicious packages.
Despite his vast experience, he was “always humble and very chatty,” the officers said. “He loved banter and he had a great sense of humour, PC Green added.
One of the topics he loved to talk about was politics. He was a long-term Labour voter but had a soft spot for former Conservative prime minister John Major, who he considered “very different from other Tory leaders”.
His colleagues have launched a fundraiser in his memory.
Albert Tedam was a unifier, he loved to check on family members once a while. And loved to help solve issues,
He loved to chat and encouraged his love ones as if he never had problems. He was always smiley even in difficult times n never begrudge anyone.
He was never materialistic. He was not corruptible, yet did not judge people in that category, he loved simply.
And was a good Christian.
He was my Uncle, i love him much. And still cant believe he slept off never to wake again,just like that.
He could chat with us his nieces as if we were colleagues, he was simply lovely. And a father .
Rest on My handsome, tall and kind hearted Uncle