A sad day

In the past week, we lost one of our employees. I don't mean he quit--I mean "lost" in the most permanent sense.

He was one of our hospital security officers. He was a retired New York City police officer who survived 20 years of NYC during the days when it had a high crime rate. He worked all those years without getting hurt.

Following his retirement, he worked a few part-time jobs. One of them was with us. Another was as a Bay Constable, one day a week, for one of the small towns further east on Long Island. Bay Constables aren't supposed to be in great danger, although any peace officer's job can involve going in harm's way.

So Richard Brooks wasn't actually patrolling the bay on a boat last Friday. Rather, he was on dry land when he saw someone driving erratically. He pursued the driver to the driver's home. When they got there, the man he was chasing ran inside. Officer Brooks remained outside and called for backup, not knowing that the man had grabbed a shotgun he had in his house. The man shot Officer Brooks and then came out of the house and proceeded to run over his body. Another officer arrived and shot the criminal to death, but the damage was done. Officer Brooks lay dead.

Today was his funeral. He leaves a wife and two kids. If you want to contribute to a fund for his family, e-mail me. The Security Department is taking up a collection, and I'll be glad to share contact info for our Security Director.