A touching but somber reminder as one by one, the names of 55 lost police officers were added to the State of New York Police Officers Memorial in Albany on Tuesday.
“Emotionally, it feels just like July 22 of last year,” said Rochester Police Chief David Smith. “Like it just happened.”
Anthony Mazurkiewicz, a 29-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department, was added to the memorial this year. The 54-year-old was shot and killed last summer, when a gunman opened fire on the unmarked vehicle he and his partner were sitting in.
“He was a great cop,” Smith said. “As a human being, he was a pain in the butt with a great big heart.”
In addition to Mazurkiewicz were a number of NYPD officers and others who met a similar, tragic fate in the line of duty, whether it be an illness related to their response to Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attack, or during their normal duties.
“I want you to know, we’ll never take for granted the life they chose, or how that life ended,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Each of their names were etched permanently on the memorial to help ensure their dedicated service to their communities is never forgotten.
“My staff and I were able to get some rubbings off the wall for his family since they weren’t available to be here,” Smith said. “We’ll be taking that back with us. Definitely, not a day we’ll be forgetting anytime soon.”
With the addition of this year’s roll of honor, there are now more than 1,800 names on the remembrance wall from 150 different law enforcement agencies across the state and six federal agencies.