Police officers never get the true credit that they deserve. If anything they are criticized for anything and everything. Granted there is bad in all however the good should outweigh the bad.
I first started to understand this when the great Yankees owner George Steinbrenner started a foundation with the Olympics track and field champion Jim Fuchs.
He told me that through the years he had known many police officers that were truly good people and never got thanked for their service. I remember him saying that he had gone to a funeral service for a cop killed in the line of duty and as he stared at the officer’s young family he wondered who was going to pay for the children’s education.
That’s how the birth of the Silver Shield foundation started.
My kids use to visit Mr. Steinbrenner at his office all the time in Tampa. One time the Boss asked my boys what did they want to do when they grow up and My oldest son Jon-Erik responded by saying a baseball player. The Boss responded by saying, Well if you play baseball anything like your father you better think about becoming a policeman. At the time we laughed but today I always ask Jon-Erik if that could have possibly been a premonition. Especially because two of my boys are cops in Suffolk County.
My youngest son is Ricky who played baseball in the Toronto BlueJays organization but is fulfilling his dream of being a police officer. Last year he was a Suffolk County Cop of the year.
My oldest son Jon-Erik is a Sergeant and has been on the force for nine years.
What’s incredible is that he has helped deliver five babies during that time. Because of this, he is known at his precinct as The Baby Whisperer. The first baby that he delivered was not breathing at one point and Jon-Erik used a kitchen instrument to open his breathing passageway. As you can imagine the parents cried with joy when this heroic officer saved baby Bruce’s life.
Today Jon-Erik and Bryce Pappalardow are bonded forever because Jon-Erik is his godfather.
This last delivery was a beautiful joint effort with Officers Conor Diemer, Jadin Rodriguez, and Zachary Vormittag doing everything they could to make sure that baby Owen Maldonado came into this world safe and sound.
This is the kind of responsibility that I wouldn’t want yet these officers deal with this every day.
Oh and let me add that Jon-Erik’s stepfather Jerry Delorenzo is a retired police officer so you know he was also a very positive influence.
Thank you all for your service!
