National Police Week Parade

Police march to honor their own
By Jeff Morganteen Stamford Advocate 05/08/2008

STAMFORD - Before mounting his police motorcycle yesterday, Officer Joseph Russo recalled how a young colleague was killed in White Plains, N.Y., in January.

Stamford police had attended the funeral, he said, and now it was time to repay the favor. Russo, an officer in the Mount Vernon, N.Y., Police Department, was one of 300 officers who traveled to Stamford yesterday to honor police killed in the line of duty.

"My department couldn't wait to send us out here," Russo said before he and his motorcycle unit joined others from Darien and Newark, N.J.

More than 40 police departments from the tri-state area and Massachusetts descended on Stamford yesterday to march in a parade held by the Stamford Police Department.

The review began at 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Park on Atlantic Street. Led by an armored vehicle, officers riding motorcycles, Segways and horses marched to Stamford police headquarters at 805 Bedford St. In the rear, officers played bagpipes as others marched in formation.

A police helicopter flew overhead as trained dogs barked at onlookers through open windows of Bridgeport patrol cars.

Stamford Police Chief Brent Larrabee said the parade recognized past, present and future police officers.

"It's not just about any one person," Larrabee said. "It's about those who have served and those who will serve."

The march was timed to coincide with National Police Week, which begins Sunday, said Stamford Officer Jessica Bloomberg, the event's principal organizer.

After the ceremony, Bloomberg also organized at a downtown bar the first benefit for the Killed in the Line of Duty Fund, a new fund to support fallen officers' families.

The parade grew to more than 40 departments after about 20 participated last May and Assistant Police Chief Robert Nivakoff told her to expand the idea this year, Bloomberg said.

"We need to keep better care of each other here," she said. "God forbid someone is killed in the line of duty."

The department plans to improve the annual event each year. Larrabee said. Yesterday's parade was met with limited crowds. Many onlookers were diners already seated outside along Bedford Street.

A ceremony after the parade honored the last four Stamford officers killed in the line of duty by placing a wreath on their memorial in front of police headquarters.

In 1974, Officer William McNamara was killed by another officer while responding to a robbery at a liquor store; David Troy was shot and killed in 1960 while responding to a robbery. In 1938, George Kelley and Andrew Schlechtweg were killed in separate motorcycle accidents.

Rob Roqueta, a 35-year-old Stamford resident who watched the parade while standing outside a bar on Bedford Street, said he admired the camaraderie among the different police departments.

"It shows a lot," Roqueta said. "It's like a fraternity."