Rochester Police Locust Club - DiPonzio Fund
Thursday, February 5, 2009
MICHAEL
D. MAZZEO, President
1425
RALPH J.
GAGLIANO, Executive
Vice President
STEPHEN
R. WILLIAMS,
Chairman, House Committee
TEL:
585-254-5410
JOHN R.
FIORICA, Secretary
FAX:
585-647-3545
THEODORE
G. CORIDDI, Treasurer
E-mail:
police@locustclub.org
Media Release –
I want to start off by
thanking the media for coming and for your
support and understanding respecting
the privacy of the DiPonzio family and also of
our members that have been
trying to come to grips with the shooting of
our brother Tony
DiPonzio.
On behalf of the men and
women of the Rochester Police Locust Club, we
wish to offer our thanks for the
tremendous out pouring of support that has been
received since the tragic
shooting of our brother Anthony DiPonzio.
To personally name all of
our brothers and sister agencies in law
enforcement, and organized labor who
have come to our aid would be impossible. We
also would like to thank Governor
Patterson and Mayor Duffy for their support and
the resources that they
provided.
To Dr. Maurer, Dr. Shmigel
and the staff of
To our own brothers and
sisters who on Saturday did what was expected
of them in such an exemplarily
manner. Your actions are living proof of the
strength and the solidarity that
we have and cherish.
With the arrest our healing
process begins, we come here together to
announce the formation of the “Anthony
DiPonzio Fund”. This fund will provide the
resources to the DiPonzio family in
an attempt to help relieve them of some of the
overwhelming stresses that they
have been forced to deal
with.
Donations in the name of
“The Anthony DiPonzio Fund” can be forwarded to
the Rochester Police Locust
Club,
The event on Saturday
caused the community to take pause and come
together in prayer and support for
Anthony DiPonzio a member of our police
community. While the dangers of police
work are inherent and is something officers
face daily in the streets it was
the nature of this event that has stirred so
many to rally to our side. The
blatant cowardly act of a back-shooting
assassin upon a police officer cannot
be tolerated. The arrest of a suspect does not
spell an end to this event. This
must be a wake-up call to this community, if
police officers are not safe on
the streets then how can we guarantee the
safety of the men, woman and children
of this community.
We cannot wait for police
administers or city officials to ponder the age
of this suspect while our
officers are still patrolling the streets in
the same manner and conditions
prior to this deliberate attack. While there
are no quick fixes to ending
violence in our community there are some
initial steps that can be taken to add
a higher level of protection to our
protectors.
A return
to a true community policing model is
a necessity. A model that will ensure that our
officers know the residents in
their patrol areas, working as a team both
police and residents, together they
can rid the streets of those who choose a life
of crime. We need strong
determined directions with clear goals and
unwavering support from the
administration and the community.
Our officers are symbols of
a civilized society. They have demonstrated
their bravery, commitment and
professionalism over and over again while
facing needless challenges and
obstacles often imposed by those that they
serve. Despite these roadblocks
there is an unquestionable dedication by the
officers of City of
It is because of this
dedication that we now find ourselves
assembling to announce an effort to raise
funds for one of our bravest members and to
assist the DiPonzio family with the
costs associated with Tony’s
recovery.
Michael
D. Mazzeo
President
Rochester
Police Locust Club, Inc.