The Blue Executions (42 page)

I’d also like to thank all of those men and women around our great country that put on uniforms everyday to make us safe from the evil doers of the world.  In particular I’d like to thank my brothers and sisters in blue with the NYPD.  Please wear your vests and stay safe out there. Come home to your families every night and look forward to your retirement.  Please also keep in mind all of the first responders who are still being diagnosed and tragically passing away from the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In Memoriam

While all of my characters are in fact made up, there were two minor characters in
The Blue Executions
that were based on people very dear to me that have passed on.

The first was the Emergency Service Lieutenant, Lt. Pelosi.  Lieutenant Pelosi’s character was based off and in memory of Jimmy Pelosi.  Jimmy was one of my cops in my Street Narcotics Enforcement team.  Jimmy was a big strong man with a gentle smile.  He was the type of cop that other cops aspired to be like.  Jimmy had the rare combination of street smarts,
the gift of gab (which made him great during interrogations), and the fortitude to see things got done. Those are some of the things that made Jimmy one of the best cops that I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  Jimmy not only had all of those attributes but he was the type of cop to push others aside to be the first one through a door, not knowing what would be on the other side.  Jimmy was a true leader among his peers.  It was for these reasons that I named the ESU Lieutenant after Jimmy. Jimmy sadly passed away in 2002 at the age of 36.

The next character was Police Commissioner Czartoryski.  Commissioner Czartoryski was named for my very first radio car partner, Kevin Czartoryski.  Kevin was a giant of a man at six foot six but his height pales in comparison to his personality and his heart.  Anyone who knew Kevin would tell you that he was the life of any party.  He was the type of person that would do anything for anybody; the type of person that you couldn’t find anybody who could possibly say anything bad about.  Anyone whose life was touched by Kevin was a better person for having known him.  When we were both rookies Kevin would tell me that his aspirations on the NYPD were to one day become the Police Commissioner.  As his career progressed, Kevin took the investigative route rather than the promotional route.  He achieved the rank of Detective First Grade, in my opinion, the most prestigious rank in the entire department.  As my tribute to Kevin in
The Blue Executions
, I decided to fulfill his legacy by making him the Police Commissioner.  Kevin died in 2010 at the age of 46 from 9/11 related cancer.