May 20, 2011 -- The Westchester County law enforcement community gathered Thursday, May 19 at the County Center in White Plains to pay tribute to fallen officers and honor current officers for outstanding police work performed in the past year.
The annual Police Memorial Day and Honor Awards ceremony was presided over by County Executive Robert P. Astorino and Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth. During the ceremony, the names of 82 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in Westchester from 1792 to 2010 were read aloud and taps were played to honor their memory.
The name of White Plains Detective Michael Perry was added to the Roll of Honor this year. Detective Perry collapsed and died last June after subduing a career criminal who resisted arrest and continue to be combative with officers back at police headquarters.
Members of Detective Perry's family, including his wife, Theresa, attended the ceremony. Astorino thanked them "for Michael's brave and honorable service" and said the county would never forget the terrible price that Detective Perry and his loved ones have paid.
"A death in the line of duty is a debt that can never be repaid – not to the fallen officer, and not to those he left behind," Astorino said. "What we can do is pledge to always honor his memory. We can make sure that his sacrifice – and yours – will forever be remembered."
In the awards portion of the ceremony, 31 officers from seven police departments were honored for acts of bravery, investigative skill and lifesaving actions.
"These officers have upheld the finest traditions of dedication and courage exemplified by those who made the ultimate sacrifice," Longworth said.
For the six-month period from April 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, 2010, awards were presented to:
- Detective Michael Perry (posthumously), White Plains Police Department: Detective Perry collapsed and died on June 12, 2010, after arresting a career criminal who was combative with him on the street and back at police headquarters;
- Police Officer Martin Dentini, Mount Vernon Police Department, who subdued a man who was holding a machete to a woman's throat and threatening to kill her;
- Sergeant Mark Nielson and Trooper Adrian Melendez, New York State Police, who saved the life of a man who drove a stolen car into frigid waters of the Croton River and flipped the vehicle on to its roof;
- Officer Luigi Osso, Irvington Police Department, who suffered life-threatening injuries when his patrol car was struck by a stolen car that was being driven at a high rate of speed by a fleeing suspect;
- Sgt. Brian Hess, Sgt. James Greer, Detective David Minet and Detective Matthew Handelsman, Westchester County Department of Public Safety, for their investigative skill in identifying suspects in a dangerous spree of armed bank robberies in Westchester and Putnam counties.
For the six-month period from Oct. 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, awards were presented to:
- Sgt. Daniel Langford, Detective Kenneth Hasko and Detective Anthony Cucinell, Hazardous Devices Unit, Westchester County Department of Public Safety, for facing significant danger while skillfully investigating and rendering safe an Improvised Explosive Device found outside a home in Tarrytown;
- Sergeant Bryant Pappas and Police Officers Sean Drain and Christopher Heekin, Yonkers Police Department, for placing themselves in imminent danger by confronting and chasing an armed suspect who had just shot two persons;
- Police Officer Kevin Radovich, Kent Police Department, who rescued three persons from a burning building;
- Police Officers John Donaghy, Ronald Faivre and Betty Morales, Yonkers Police Department, for their skillful and determined investigation that led to the arrest of a pedophile who was seeking to have sex with a 10-year-old girl;
- Police Officer Ronald Faivre, Yonkers Police Department, for his dangerous and difficult undercover investigation into illegal gun sales in the city;
- Captain Thomas Barnett, Lt. Joseph Fernandez and Police Officers Anthony Alaimo, Dennis Borelli, Christian Carrasco, Christopher Kowatch, Michael Messar, Fernando Quinones, Larry Sherman, Anthony Tyndal and Gerald Wilkens, Emergency Services Unit, Yonkers Police Department, for their technical proficiency, teamwork and restraint in executing a rescue of an emotionally disturbed and violent suspect from a rooftop.
Following the ceremony, the Department of Public Safety unveiled a new redesign of its patrol cars that includes a memorial shield in honor of individual officers who lost their lives in the line of duty from the county police and its predecessor agencies – the Westchester County Sheriff's Department and the Westchester County Parkway Police.
"Each of these cars is dedicated to, and carries the name of, a police officer who made the ultimate sacrifice," Deputy Commissioner Joseph Yasinski said. "It is one more way that our Department can honor our fallen heroes. We also hope it also is a reminder to the public we serve of the sacrifice these officers made keeping our county safe."
Yasinski said the new design was done in collaboration with officers from the Patrol Services Division. He said vehicles with the new color scheme are being phased into the county police fleet as aging vehicles are replaced. He also said there is a small savings per car associated with striping and decals for the new design as compared to the current design of county police cars.