Ten 68th Precinct cops were singled out for their performance at an awards night organized by the precinct and State Senator Marty Golden.
These awards, said precinct commanding officer Captain Joseph Hayward, were, “not about crime-fighting but about saving lives,” during the event held on Tuesday, September 6 at the station house, 333 65th Street.
One duo – Police Officers Spencer Craven and Ali Ahmed – helped deliver a baby at 68th Street and Eighth Avenue on Sunday, August 14.
The pair, said Hayward, responded “expeditiously” to a 911 call of “a woman having a baby on the public sidewalk. The ambulance was unable to respond,” and the two officers, he continued, “swept the mom and baby into the police car and to the hospital.”
“It’s the greatest gift you can give, bringing someone into the world,” note Golden, in praising the officers.
Mom Fei Zhang, her husband Feng and baby Johnny were on hand to thank Craven and Ahmed. “Your quick and professional response helped deliver baby Johnny to our family,” they said in a statement that was read out by Hayward. “We will forever be grateful for your heroic act.”
In addition, eight police officers were honored for having successfully administered Narcan to four people who had overdosed on drugs in separate incidents.
The teams of Police Officers Juan Guzman and Mikeljan Agolli, Brendan Bradley and Joseph Varrone, David Hudgens and Anthony Gaglione and Joseph Power and Daniel Boyle “Responded quickly,” said Hayward, and upon determining that they were dealing with individuals who had OD’d, “successfully administered the antidote and saved four lives.”
While many of the officers being honored are young, noted Golden, and haven’t previously been recognized, “This is where they started, doing the right thing for people in our community, helping those in need.”
Another group poised to do right is the Lemonade Coalition, a group of local students who have made a name for themselves raising money for good causes. They, “our future community leaders,” as they were called by Hayward, were on hand at the precinct to take an oath, he said, “To say no to drugs and to help the Police Department by educating other children and other adolescents to take the same pledge.”