February 3, 2007
By Matthew Lysiak
for The Brooklyn Paper
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was on hand, but the real hero was on the wall.
Det. Richard DeGaetano, 47, a 21-year veteran who died in July from stomach cancer, was honored with the unveiling of a memorial plaque at his old stomping grounds, Bensonhurst’s 62nd Precinct.
On Jan. 13, 1992, DeGaetano was shot in the head trying to intervene in a landlord-tenant dispute in Bensonhurst. He not only survived the shot that left him blind in his right eye, but remained on active duty in the police Self-Support Unit.
DeGaetano was not just a hero and a cop’s cop, but he was also the face of the NYPD for a few years in the early 1990s, thanks to a recruitment campaign, “The Beat Cop is Back,” that featured him.
After the plaque was unveiled, the tributes flowed.
“Now they will always remember how one beat cop managed to bring the entire community together,” said Community Board 11 District Manager Howard Feuer. “It says something real nice about Det. Richard DeGaetano.”
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