For their successful crime-fighting efforts, six 69th Precinct police officers have snagged Cop of the Month honors.
The officers were honored at the September meeting of the 69th Precinct Community Council, which was held at St. Alban’s Church, 9408 Farragut Road.
P.O. Ron Mentore and P.O. Matthew Woods were recognized for their apprehension of one of the perpetrators in a shooting, said Captain Milt Marmara, the precinct’s commanding officer.
The two police officers, Marmara said, work on the midnight tour. The day that a teen had been shot in Bayview Playground after his iPod had been stolen, the officers, “Went to look for the bad guys. They ended up catching one person with a gun,” who, he recounted, “was subsequently identified as the person who shot this young teenager.”
Nonetheless, “It’s not for just this particular instance they got the Cop of the Month award,” Marmara added.
Lt. Robert Henderson, P.O. Lutfi Dalipi, P.O. Bogdan Tabor and P.O. Troy Luis, who make up the precinct’s Conditions Unit, also were honored as Cops of the Month.
They, said Marmara, have “made numerous gun arrests through the summer,” which, he stressed, is an important aspect of the precinct’s crime-fighting efforts, as well as efforts to maintain the quality of life in Canarsie.
“One particular evening in Canarsie Park, there were three individuals shooting guns in the back,” Marmara told the group. The officers, he said, were “able to tactically approach” the perpetrators, one of whom had dangerous talon bullets — which can pierce bulletproof vests — in his weapon.
“Every time they make a loaded gun arrest, they put their lives on the line,” Marmara stressed. “They’ve done an excellent job of doing it without having to discharge their weapons, without causing any serious injury to themselves or the people they are arresting.”
