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Fallen officers remembered at 84th Precinct meeting

January 22, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
In the weeks following the deaths of NYPD Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, the 84th Precinct has been flooded with flowers, food, sympathy cards and other gifts as people pay their respects to the fallen officers. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese
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Instead of presenting crime reports and Cop of the Month awards, this month’s 84th Precinct Community Council meeting focused on commemorating NYPD Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who died in the line of duty last month.

“It’s hard to have a Cop of the Month award when two of them lost their lives in the line of duty,” Cap. Sergio Centa told meeting attendees. The discussion was held Tuesday at the precinct in Downtown Brooklyn. “The cops also felt uncomfortable getting an award this week, so we felt it appropriate not to have that this month. It’s a little bit different meeting than usual. It’s hard to ignore what’s up here and what’s happening,” Centa added.

Officers of the 84th Precinct are used to long days the week before Christmas as they watch over holiday shoppers, but this year was especially intense as they dealt with protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge and in front of the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Brooklyn.

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Despite the protests, Centa expected the Saturday before Christmas to be a relatively quiet day — but that only lasted about 15 minutes before he got the call that two of his officers had been shot.

“A lot of my cops were working six days a week that week,” Centa said. “I did about 60 hours of overtime that week dealing with the protesters. I had maybe two days off in two weeks. We thought that finally we had turned the corner, protests had started dying down.”

Fifteen minutes into the shift, it was announced over the radio that Liu and Ramos, who were both posthumously promoted to detectives, were shot and killed execution style. Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley shot them both at the corner of Myrtle and Tompkins avenues before taking his own life on Dec. 20, according to police. Liu and Ramos were pronounced dead upon arrival at Woodhull Hospital.

Centa said he was glad that he was on duty that day because he didn’t have to rush in from home and he was able to give his officers the news himself.

“I told them that we would get through this together, and we did,” Centa said. “[W]e’ve been getting support from the department, the community, other departments, other communities.”
The entire 84th Precinct took the next two weeks off while other members of the NYPD patrolled the area and answered 911 calls. Flowers, food and sympathy cards flowed into the 84th Precinct during that time. Centa said he tried to keep up with all of the cards, but after seven days there were just too many to read. People have also stopped by to sign a condolence book that has been left out.

“The support we’ve gotten has truly been amazing,” Centa said. “We’ve gotten support from all over the world. Letters from Belgium, Canada and other places. Even my relatives from Italy called to talk about it.”

Centa added that he wanted to display as many of the tributes to the officers as he could and would store the rest for history. The officers’ lockers will also be memorialized and never used again.

Councilmember Stephen Levin stopped by to express his condolences as well. Levin talked about the $7.3 million that the City Council has proposed for its next budget that will provide the NYPD with more bulletproof vests. He added that he planned to try to have it retroactively included in the last budget so that officers wouldn’t have to wait until the spring.

Centa and Community Council President Leslie Lewis both said they hoped to have a memorial ready by next month’s meeting so they can have a dedication ceremony for Liu and Ramos. A plaque will go on the Memorial Wall in the precinct next to the 84 Precinct’s other fallen officers including Officer Alain Schaberger, who was pushed to his death in 2011.

After the meeting, Lewis said Centa has done a phenomenal job handling the situation including communicating with the families, the community, the press and his officers. The captain has been at the 84th Precinct since August,

“He’s a young man who fell into this,” Lewis said. “He’s been a pro the way he’s handled all of the press conferences and everyone’s families the way he has. It’s really been amazing. We’ve all been lucky that he’s been the one in charge during this terrible tragedy.”


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