The New Castle County Police Department held its annual Police Day Memorial Service, A Day of Remembrance, for fallen officers on Wednesday in front of the Paul Sweeney Public Safety Building off Route 13 in New Castle, Delaware.
County Executive Tom Gordon, Police Chief Col. Elmer Setting, FOP President Cpl. Michael Zielinski, and Lt. James Unger were among those presenting or speaking at this solemn event.
Dignitaries attending the ceremony included Attorney General Beau Biden, Council President Chris Bullock and Councilmen Joe Reda, George Smiley, and Jea Street, County Clerk of the Peace Kenneth Boulden, and Elsmere Mayor Steve Burg.
Also present at the solemn event were Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi, Chief of Staff Jim McDonald, Public Safety Director Joe Bryant, and CFO Mike Coupe, who are all members of County Executive Tom Gordon’s administration.
County Executive Gordon thanked the families for the sacrifice they had made for the County, and he commenced Director Bryant and Chief Setting for the protocols they had put in place to prevent any more officers from falling while in the line of duty.
Chief Setting and Cpl. Zielinski placed beautiful flower wreaths at the memorial that stands in front of police headquarters in honor of all those police officers who had fallen while on duty. Officer First Class Gregory Bruno, the FOP chaplain, also conducted a reading of fallen officers. Those honored were Corporal Paul J. Sweeney, Lt. Joseph L. Szczerba, Cpl. Ralph Dorris, Cpl. Charles Hicken, Sgt. William Honey, Cpl. Alfred Scarpello, Cpl. Gary Slayton, Cpl., William Stehl, and Cpl. Robert Zakrzewski.
After the ceremony, County Executive Tom Gordon, Public Safety Director Joe Bryant, Police Elmer Setting, and several others drove down to Dover for the statewide ceremony held for all fallen officers across the state.
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