by John Paolucci
12/25/93:
As I sat silently enjoying the quiet predawn moments, stillness was shattered by a rooster’s crow. I said a prayer for peace and hoped that I would make it home to spend Christmas with my family. Then out of nowhere, I heard a voice from afar and it was speaking directly to me!
“Housing 9225, respond to 10-54 unconscious at 3-1-5 East 1-4-3 apartment 3 Charlie.” An “unconscious” is often a DOA, so I envisioned my Christmas plans evaporating since in those days it could take up to 12 hours for the detectives and ME’s investigator to check the location and the body for signs that might point to a homicide. Then the “meat wagon” would have to come to take the body away and with approximately 2,000 homicides a year it was hard to get a meat wagon. By the time I signed out I’d be able to get a couple hours sleep before I had to be back in uniform for the next tour, so I called my family and told them to have Christmas without me again.
My “problems” vanished instantly when the family in 3 Charlie opened the door. A woman clad in a nightgown lay motionless in front of a Christmas tree under which presents were labeled with young children’s scrawling “M-O-M”. I felt guilty that my plans were so important to me that I neglected to think about this family. Those teary, wide eyes looked at me, the police, for hope and I wanted to cry, but you never can, so I called for a rush on the ambulance and felt the cold skin of the mother as I attempted to find a carotid pulse.
12/27/2014
That same stillness could be felt once the order “Present arms” was called, but now the sun was shining and instead of only my partner and a South Bronx rooster there were approximately 25,000 men and women from all over the world standing in formation, assembled to say goodbye to Police Officer Rafael Ramos who was murdered as he sat in his patrol car.
The previous days were anything but still with angry protesters and angry cops. For the first time in 3 years, I regretted being retired and wished I were back in uniform, mentoring a squad of young cops who know they are all targets for assassins. I was hurt, sad, angry and even vengeful.
Over the loud speaker I heard the minister quote Dr. Martin Luther King: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” I saw how the Ramos family put their pain aside and, with forgiveness, shed light on one of the darkest times in New York City’s history.
Cops will go back to work and do their job with professionalism and courtesy that will 
never be seen, but make one mistake and they’re media stars. Protesters will keep protesting, and my question to them is “What is the result you are trying to achieve?”
You called for justice and the officers were put In front of Grand Juries. You called for reform and the president promised body cameras while the mayor began to retrain the entire NYPD. Both politicians consulted with Al Shaprton, who knows nothing about forgiveness. Some of you called for dead cops and you even got that. If you want peace, heed Gandhi’s wisdom and “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Please click here to view John Paolucci’s previous posts:
Dead Body at the Crime Scene – What Forensic Value Does It Have?
New York City Housing Police: A Bygone Era Worth Talking About
Forensics Dispatch From New York City: Searching A House Of Horrors!
About the Author: John Paolucci is a retired Detective Sergeant from NYPD who worked his last eight years in the Forensic Investigations Division, four of them as a Crime Scene Unit supervisor. He was the first ever to command the OCME Liaison Unit where he managed all DNA evidence in NYC and trained thousands of investigators in DNA evidence collection and documentation. He developed a strong alliance between the OCME Forensic Biology Department and NYPD. He also worked as a Narcotics Undercover and Patrol Officer in the Housing Projects of the South Bronx. He is currently the president of Forensics 4 Real Inc., where he provides forensic support to private investigations, international and domestic. He also trains students and law enforcement in forensic evidence and crime scene investigations and provides consultations with movie and television writers, directors and developers working on real crime shows and dramas. www.forensics4real.com.