Promotions…
I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to the recently promoted members of our department to the ranks of Lieutenant and Sergeant effective Saturday, October 1, 2011. It is an outstanding achievement not only for our department but also certainly for the members of our association.
Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant: David Johnson, Sean O’Leary, and Treina Wearing.
Promoted to the rank of Sergeant: Eric Altofer, Melonee Alvarez, Eric Batchelder, Wendy Bear, Jayme Campbell, Ricardo Castillo, Kelly Dunn, Justin Erb, George Ferraez, Sean Griffin, Dien Ha, Mark Hutchings, Damon Keeve, Joshua Kumli, Daniel Laval, Derrick Lew, Anthony Montoya, William O’Brien, Maura Pengel, Peter Shields, Daniel Simone, Benjamin Smith, Brett Thorpe, and Walter Ware.
The above listed members have a lot to be proud of for their accomplishment, which was achieved through a lot of hard work and dedication to study and performance.
There is no doubt that each will be an integral part of the future and organizational success of the San Francisco Police Department.
A special tip of the hat to members Jayme Campbell and Dan Laval who will be vacating their positions on the POA Board of Directors because of their promotions.
Dan was a Representative from Tactical. Jayme represented the members of Southern Station. Both Jayme and Dan were active and participating members of the board and I thank them graciously for their service to this organization.
More Congratulations are in order…
On Thursday, September 22, 2011, The American Red Cross of the Bay Area - San Francisco County honored the following members of the San Francisco Police Department for their lifesaving actions during a raging fire on Hyde Street on October 6, 2010. The San Francisco Police Officers Association wishes to extend its deepest and sincerest congratulations to Sgt. Joseph Barrett #1137; Sgt. Shaughn Ryan #1756 and Officers Elizabeth Morse #1268; Mark Milligan #1254; Matthew Elseth #2414 and James Johnson #2430. The sergeants and officers were assigned to the Tenderloin and Central Police Districts at the time of the fire.
I also want to thank and congratulate Sgt. Gabe Gallaread of Mission Station who has been a Red Cross Leadership Volunteer for many years. Gabe was the co-chair for this year’s event, which was held at the Marines Memorial Club on Sutter Street. Great work guys and gals…
UCSF visit…
Officer Brian Kneuker of Ingleside Station was a very busy officer this month. Not only did Brian volunteer and participate at the 9-11 Ceremonies at AT&T Park on Sunday, September 11th, he once again volunteered to visit some very special children at UCSF on Wednesday, September 14th along with Officer Cesar Perez of Southern Station who is also a frequent volunteer at The Child Life Center.
Brian made some bedside visits to those youngsters confined to their rooms while Cesar spent his time in the classroom thinking of devious ways to propel his team of students to victory. Note to Cesar: foreign words don’t count!
It is very satisfying to see younger members of our department like Brian getting involved in our community outreach projects. In due time, Brian and his generation will be the leaders of this department and of this association and we have to be resolute in our work with these sick children.
Once again we had a great time with the kids and shared a lot of laughs. We are back on a school schedule at UCSF so we will once again be visiting the youngsters on the second Wednesday of the month.
As in the past at the Child Life Center during the month of October, they will be hosting a Harvest Festival so please keep an eye out for any upcoming bulletins announcing the day date and time.
9-11 Remembrances…
On Saturday, September 10, 2011 members of the San Francisco Emergency Responders and Public Safety Community joined with city, state and national leaders in the Civic Center Plaza of San Francisco to commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks against the people and land of The United States of America.
Members of the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco Fire Department were among many other citizens and elected officials who gathered to remember the incredible sacrifices made by so many on that fateful day and date in our nation’s history.
Those who gathered at the Civic Center Plaza re-affirmed that they shall never forget the lives lost of American Citizens and Citizens of the World.
The ceremonies were sponsored by the SFPOA and Local 798, San Francisco Fire Fighters.
The POA 9-11 Committee members were Gary Delagnes; Marty Halloran; Russ Gordon; Maris Goldsborough; Brian Philpott; Jesus Pena, Kevin Lyons along with leaders of Local 798 including Tony Rivera and Tom O’Connor, President of Local 798.
SFPD Captain Michael Connolly directed the event and assembled the members before the SFPD and SFFD Color Guard presented the colors.
Sgt. Jerry D’Arcy sang a very moving rendition of our National Anthem and later in the proceedings sang God Bless America, which was equally evocative.
Police and Fire Department Chaplains Father Michael Healy and Father John Greene gave the invocation. Speakers for the ceremonies included Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader; San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee; Police Chief Greg Suhr; Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White; POA President Gary Delagnes and Local 798 President Tom O’Connor;
The ceremonies ended with a very solemn rendition of “Taps” performed by Officer Mark Lundin and Officer Ivan Sequeira and the retirement of the colors.
I would like to very much thank all those members on or off duty who attended this ceremonial event. It was truly wonderful to see a strong uniformed presence by our members.
I would also like to acknowledge the aforementioned committee members who in part worked hard and diligently to put this event together with others.
I would like to give special acknowledgement to Mayor Edwin Lee for his presence and comforting words.
Certainly a special thanks to Sgt. Gerald D’Arcy for his continued outstanding performances in the singing of our National Anthem and God Bless America …(there is absolutely no one better, Jerry!)
And to Jerry’s dear mother, Mrs. D’Arcy for her continued presence and support for her son and our association, Thank you very much!
I would also like to acknowledge Ms. Martha Cohen from the Mayor’s Office for all her wonderful efforts, hard work, willingness and ability to work with others.
Thank you so much Martha…couldn’t have done it without you…
Note to Martha: If you want to have some real fun, come to one of our board meetings!
The Police-Fire Mass was held the following day, Sunday, September 11, 2012 at St. Monica’s Church. There was standing room only in the crowded church as people gathered to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attacks on America and her people. Father John Greene was the Celebrant and Father Healy the Homilist.
S.F.P.D. Chaplains Sister Lillian Repak, OSB and Rabbi Martin Levin were also present for the mass and ceremonies.
Deputy Chief James Dudley and Captain Denis O’Leary also represented our department during the mass.
SFPD Officers Mark Lundin and Ivan Sequeira sounded “Taps” at the end of the service.
I would like to thank very much the members of the San Francisco Police Department and the SFPOA who attended the mass either by yourself or with your families.
I would also like to thank Father John Greene and our own Father Michael Healy for all your wonderful efforts during the course of that very busy weekend!
Thanks very much to Chief Greg Suhr, the members of the SFPD Command Staff for your presence on both days and to Police Commission President who was the only Commissioner who showed for the mass. We missed you, Commissioners, that weekend…
On that same Sunday afternoon at AT&T Park, members of the San Francisco Police Department, Fire Department and San Francisco Sheriff’s Office joined the San Francisco Giants for an on-field pre-game memorial tribute for the 9-11 Anniversary. In what was probably the best and most moving pre-game ceremony I have ever seen, the aforementioned representatives joined with Airline Pilots of United Airlines and A Pipe and Drum Band led by outstanding veteran Bay Area Piper Jan Ritchie and members of the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers for a ceremony emceed by the Voice of the San Francisco Giants, Renell Davis who did an outstanding job.
As he has done frequently in the past, Sgt. Gerald D’Arcy sang our National Anthem to a roaring ovation and later in the seventh inning sang in what has become a tradition at big league parks around the country, “God Bless America.” Giants’ broadcaster Duane Kuiper was so impressed with Jerry that he offered on the air compliments and praise for Jerry’s efforts.
An impressive military fly-over put an exclamation point on the pre-game ceremony as the Public Safety Officers marched off the field to a rousing and extended cheer from the sold out crowd.
The Giants then went out and did their job as they thumped the bums 8-1!
After the game, Giants bench coach Ron Wotus and Strength and Conditioning coach Benny Potenziano remarked how impressed they were of the uniformed presence on the field and of the ceremony itself.
I would like to thank the following members of the San Francisco Police Department including the outstanding Police Service Aides from Southern Station and the Sheriff’s Office who volunteered their times and efforts to make the pre-game ceremony so remarkable and memorable!
Lt. Bill Roualdes and Sgt. Gene Galeano of the AT&T Park Command; Police Service Aides Ramon Beltran; “The Great” Cristina Busalacchi; Aimee Vinas and Bernadette Figueroa; Lt. Dan Perea; Sgts. and Officers Brian Kneuker; Ray Padmore; Marie France Conceicao; Victoria Sullivan; Natalie Komarchuk; Nic Pena; Lois Perillo; Paul Yep; Raphael Rockwell; Kevin McPherson; Herb Carney; Yvette Poindexter and Glen Wilson.
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office was proudly represented by Deputies Clifford Chiba; Paul Lozada and Reynard Burgess.
(Please forgive me if I have omitted the name of any person who participated in this event. It is an oversight on my part certainly not intended.)
As you can see, September was a very busy month at the POA. Thank you one and all once again for your participation in the above noted events…We Shall Never Forget…Please remember all our service men and women serving our country overseas and across the sand in your thoughts and prayers…
Post-Season Ball…
Well October is soon upon us and of course that means post-season baseball.
It has certainly been a trying year for our beloved Giants as the pitching more than held up its part of the bargain but the bats could never catch on fire for an extended period of time. Pretty frustrating for us all except for perhaps Greg Neal who is an admitted commie Dodger fan…what nerve…
The Yankees are in their rightful spot as Champs of the AL East as the no-good Rex Sox floundered like fish out of water as they suffered their worst September since 1926…way to go boys…I knew I could depend on you to fall apart like a shattered bat when the going got tough. My good friends Brian Michaud and Nick Donati have headaches the size of New England because of their collapse. Don’t fret fellas…just take a bottle full of “Excedrin” and …”wait til next year!”
Speaking of the playoffs…Ryan White, the youngster from Philadelphia who was hit and run by a crazed drunken driver has made a remarkable recovery and has returned home from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I spoke to Ryan’s mother recently who told me that Ryan is doing just great and is progressing very well with his rehabilitation. Ryan and his brother, my new best friend Kevin have been invited by the Philadelphia Phillies to not only attend the opening game of their first playoff and walk out to the mound the baseball that will be used to throw out the “first pitch” by former Phillies great, Dave Cash.
What a thrill it will be for those two youngsters. I bet their feet won’t even touch the grass on the way to the mound!
Now that’s great news … a fitting way to end this column except to send a very special “Tip of the hat” to Brother Arnold Stewart of the Christian Brothers Order. Brother Arnold is the former Principal of Sacred Heart High School and just a wonderful man and a great educator to this very day even though he is retired.
I recently had a nice conversation with retired Inspector Joe Kennedy (father of Pat Kennedy of The Mayor’s Detail) who recounted some great stories about Brother Arnold.
Like Brother Draper FSC of Saint Ignatius, Brother Arnold has had a profound influence on thousands of young Christian men over the past several years, especially at Sacred Heart High School in downtown San Francisco where he served as Principal for close to fifteen years. Many of Brother Arnold’s students have gone on to lead exemplary productive lives in the SFPD because of his influence, guidance and direction.
Thank you, Brother Arnold…God Bless.
Be safe out there guys and gals…take care of each other!
