Two officers were honored at the most recent 106th Precinct Community Council meeting in Ozone Park.
Captain Thomas Pascale announced officers Christopher Sekela and Mark Ferranola as Cops of the Month during the Precinct Council’s monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 12.
Pascale said they were awarded for their active role in a missing person’s case. The missing person was a young woman dealing with depression, he said.
“The work they did is handled by investigative units. They used a lot of good common sense,” he said.
Pascale said the two officers were able to get information from the woman’s cell phone to search the surrounding areas of the cell phone tower. They then found the woman’s car outside of a motel and gained access to her room. They found her in a semi-conscious state, and quickly gave her the necessary medical attention, he said.
“In my opinion, if it wasn’t for the efforts of these two officers, this would’ve had a much different outcome,” Pascale said.
During the meeting, a Community Affairs officer also mentioned that many youth services were available. The services are aimed to reduce youth violence, prevent drug use, promote child safety and improve relationships between police and young people, the representative said.
The program is designed to educate young men and women between the ages of 14 and 20 about law enforcement and the Youth Police Academy — a summer program for city youths between the ages of 10 and 17, he said.
The majority of complaints residents made were about grand larceny of automobiles, burglaries and grand larcenies.
“People quickly run inside the store and leave the keys inside the car. Their stolen car will then be used to commit other crimes. Just don’t do it,” Pascale said.
