Photo: Det. Dennis Guerra. Courtesy of NYPD.
Last Spring, Rockaway native Det. Dennis Guerra gave his life in service of the city. And last Thursday, his name was added to the Police Department’s Hall of Heroes during the NYPD Memorial Day ceremony.
On April 6, 2014, Guerra and his partner, Police Officer Rosa Rodriguez, a Howard Beach resident, responded to a fire on the 13th floor of a Coney Island housing development. Arriving before other first responders, the officers took an elevator to the floor to warn and evacuate tenants, according to the NYPD. As they emerged from the elevator, Guerra and Rodriguez were overcome by acrid smoke that quickly filled the hallway. Responding fire personnel located both unconscious officers and transported them to area hospitals. On April 9, Guerra, 36, died of his injuries at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
According to the NYPD, Guerra began his career with the department in December 2001 as a school safety agent assigned to the 101 School Safety Unit. In June 2005, he left the NYPD for the city Correction Department and was assigned to the Rikers Island North Infirmary Command. He served there until he was sworn in as a police officer on July 10, 2006. During his eight-year career, Guerra made more than 70 arrests and earned an Excellent Police Duty medal. He was posthumously promoted to detective first grade.
“Today we celebrate their lives; we mourn their loss; we memorialize them by adding their names to this sacred wall,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said last Thursday. “We add their names to the over 800 other names that are already here in this very special place. In doing that, we fulfill a promise; we fulfill a sacred obligation that we will never forget. Because they fulfilled the commitment that this department makes…Valor unto death.”
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
