Last week was one of unspeakable grief over the losses of three public servants sworn to our protection. While the deaths come under painfully very different circumstances, they dramatically underscore the physical and emotional costs borne by the courageous men and women who step up to keep New Yorkers safe.
In the early morning of Aug. 12, the FDNY lost 27-year veteran Lt. Brian Sullivan of Squad Company 41 in the Bronx. After complaining of chest pain through a 24-hour shift _ including seven emergencies and a kitchen fire, Sullivan got to his home before going into cardiac arrest. As a line-of-duty death _ the 1,153rd in the FDNY's storied history _ there will be a review to prevent a future such episode.
Answers are much more difficult to ascertain in trying to understand the tragedies that struck the NYPD midweek, when officers took their own lives.
Johnny Rios, 35, and Robert Echeverria, 56, are the eighth and ninth deaths by suicide among The Finest this year _ the highest in a decade. It's a horrible number given how successful the NYPD has been over two decades in bringing crime down to record levels. New York is the safest big city is the nation, due to those putting their lives on the line.
City officials _ up to and including a mayor who lost his own father to suicide _ pledge to do more. Clearly it's not yet enough. For a proud organization like this, the Blue Wall of Silence has more than one meaning: The message needs to be spread that there is no shame in coming forward for confidential help when problems seem insurmountable. Cops are heroes, but they are human beings, too. Pain is real, but it not your fault and suicide is not the way out. Treatment works. Reach out and seek help.
Whether their ailments are physical or mental or emotional, seen or unseen, we pledge to do more to protect those who protect us.
