Westchester recognizes law enforcement heroes

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Congrats to all the officers recieving recgnition last week, some of which are EMTBravo Network members!

Westchester recognizes law enforcement heroes

By LEN MANIACE

lmaniace@lohud.com

THE JOURNAL NEWS

Awards

Exceptional merit

First place

• Yonkers Police Officer John Barsi

• Troopers Mark Ennis and Peter Verdesi

Second place

• Trooper Kevin M. Gonzalez

• Yonkers Police Officer Ronald Faivre

Commendable merit

First place

• Yonkers Police Officers Frank Fernandez, John McGuiness, Joseph Nowak and Nicholas Servidio

• Westchester County District Attorney investigators Stuart Cohen and Dennis Gallego

Second Place

• Port Chester Detectives Royal Monroe, George Herrera, Laz Sotolongo, Frank Suppa and Officer Alex Garcia; White Plains Detectives Wade Hardy and Timothy Byrne; Yonkers Detective Ralph Ruggiero; Westchester County Detective Kenneth Schaeffer; FBI agents Kevin Conroy, Michael Doyle, Erick Lauber, Andrew Leithead and Thomas King; and Deputy U.S. Marshal Greg Holmes.

Lifesaving

First place

• Lewisboro Police Officers William Frattarola and Dean Gilhooly

• Yonkers Police Officers Christopher Kowatch and Michael Messar

Second Place

• Eastchester Police Officer Joseph Groccia

(Original publication: May 19, 2006)

WHITE PLAINS — Westchester remembered the 75 police officers who died in the line of duty since 1898 and honored 31 new heroes from the past year as it celebrated Law Enforcement Memorial Day yesterday.

The top awards for exceptional merit went to John Barsi, a Yonkers bicycle officer who dove into the Hudson River to rescue a suicidal woman, and state Troopers Peter Verdesi and Mark Ennis, who were shot during a raid of suspected drug dealer's apartment in the Bronx, but still managed to fatally wound the gunman.

More than 300 people attended the ceremony at the Westchester County Center, including top county officials and law enforcement brass who praised the award winners from a stage drenched in flowered wreaths. The event also featured tenor and former New York City police officer Daniel Rodriguez, who sang the "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America."

Westchester County Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Belfiore lauded the 31 officers, saying: "Together these officers have raised the bar for all of us."

District Attorney Janet DiFiore said law enforcement officers deserved much credit for her office's high conviction rate.

And Bronxville Police Chief Brian Downey, who also is president of the county police chiefs association, called those recognized "the best of the best" and acknowledged the debt the public and police departments owe the families of the police officers.

The day, however, belonged to the officers who received the awards and their families — wives who snapped photos of their spouses standing at attention and the babies who babbled through the ceremony.

The Yonkers Police Department topped the agencies with nine officers recognized, followed by the Port Chester Police Department and the FBI, with five members each.

First-place awards for commendable merit went to Yonkers Officers Frank Fernandez, John McGuiness, Joseph Nowak and Nicholas Servidio, who pursued and arrested a suspect in a fatal shooting earlier in the day; and district attorney investigators Stuart Cohen and Dennis Gallego, whose investigation of a street-level loan shark led to the arrest of more than 70 people. Among them, according to police, were 31 with connections to the Genovese crime family and six members of the Tanglewood Boys gang of Yonkers.

First-place awards for lifesaving went to Lewisboro police officers William Frattarola and Dean Gilhooly, who managed to disarm and subdue a suicidal woman who was armed with a rifle without injury to her or themselves; and Yonkers police officers Christopher Kowatch and Michael Messar, who rescued an unconscious driver from a car that was sinking in the Saw Mill River.

Barsi's award was given to his wife, Dawn, and the couple's children, Nicholas and Victoria. Barsi, 40, died in December, while he was off duty.

"I am so happy for him, and that I can accept the award with the children, " Dawn Barsi said later.