Standing in front of hundreds of officers and dignitaries on Tuesday, two Long Island families accepted the NYPD’s highest award on behalf of their loved ones, who had been killed in action last year.
Detective Peter J. Figoski and Officer Alain Schaberger received the Medal of Honor for their bravery. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over the ceremony at the police headquarters in lower Manhattan.
“Today we recognize the Finest of the Finest – saluting some of the men and women who went above and beyond in answering the call of duty and responded bravely, judiciously and heroically in circumstances of extreme danger,” Bloomberg said at the ceremony.
Figoski, a 22-year veteran, was responding to a burglary in December when he was fatally shot in Brooklyn. Schaberger, a 10-year member of the department who had served in the Navy, was killed in March 2011 when a domestic violence suspect he was arresting in Brooklyn pushed him over a stairway railing, causing him to fall 9 feet.
Kelly presented Schaberger’s mother, May, an East Islip resident, with her son’s award.
Figoski’s father, Frank, a Babylon resident, accepted the award on his son’s behalf. The slain officer’s four daughters also attended. This award came after he was posthumously promoted to detective.
There were 42 members recognized at the Medal Ceremony. Among them, was Figoski’s partner, Detective Glenn Estrada, who chased after and arrested the suspect accused of shooting Figoski. He received one of the 15 Medal for Valor awards for his courage.
Thirteen Distinguished Service Awards were given to officers who died last year for diseases related to 9/11.
Twelve officers received the Police Combat Cross for handling cases where they struggled with armed offenders. This is the second-highest honor.
