3rd Street Renaming Matlosz Way In Memory Of Slain Officer Chris Matlosz - Full Ceremony

I'd like to call upon the chief and the president of the PBA to come up with me come up here as well Lakewood had a tragedy recently however something good came of a tragedy Unity people got together people all came out to the funeral people came out with well wishes I was driving down Clifton Avenue with mayor Seda and right before the funeral we were getting ready to come and we saw hundreds of thousands of people coming from all over to gather to be there at that time amazing the unity that transpired and like that unity and the memory of Chris is what we celebrating tonight originally the thought was we got to capitalize in this Unity we have to capitalize in this memory to keep it Eternal how would we do that and a number of thoughts were thrown around and the idea came up to name a street after Chris and of course the thought was what street to decide what street to pick the initial initial thought was maybe name the street that he was he was murdered at name that street and then the thought is we not looking to create a hardship on the people that live in the block and all a sudden start new names and checkbooks on new GPS and the next thing you know they're lost then the thought was let's find a street in Lakewood that no one lives on the thought came out Thorn night buard be a beautiful Street and as we were t with this idea I was speaking with the president of the PBA Gary and Gary's been a tremendous tremendous help and assistance with the ideas of coming up with this and Gary said you know what man Round of Applause Gary said you know let's honorar rename Third Street and the reason for that would be this way every day when we come to work would remember the legacy of Chris matlo and I think that was ideas p in from all over we've had support come from all over as a matter of fact moments before this meeting a school comes over to me I just got word as a school here right now a school of Orthodox boys that we each wrote a letter for the chief and honor and memy of Chris mat losos and I'd like to pull upon the dean of the school rby Eisenberg to please come forth with some WR letters of support of L with's finest during this trying time and this loose Le which has the emblem of Chris is letters written by people who probably never saw Chris never knew Chris however we all feel part of the family right now we all feel together there's unity and this here was put together by a school every student here wrote a letter to give their support I'd like to give you the opportunity to present it to the chief on behalf of your boys we express our most heartful condolences to the Matos family and entire extended family the lakwood police department among the ideals that we try to instill in our students are those of communal responsibility and dedication to others indeed these are part of the fabric of religious life the tragic and untimely end of Officer Moss's life underscores something that we tend to take for granted every police officer every day puts his life on the line with the sole purpose of keeping the rest of us safe being a cop is not like an office job it's a life of caring for a community and it was in that Spirit of caring that officer Matos was taken from us to officer mat's family and colleagues we say no one can truly understand your pain we know that all officers are like brothers and as an outsider looking in we can only imagine what you must be going through myself and the students pray that God give you all the strength and fortitude to continue and to perpetuate the legacy of dedication and devotion that officer Matos has bequeathed to all citizens of Lakewood and Beyond thank you and God bless you all amen I'll never forget the moment I got the phone call Friday afternoon it was my first shabis back in America to be with the family and the phone call came in of what transpired and immediately it was minutes before Sundown I remember calling up mayor lonstein our Police Commissioner together with Ray Kohl's and saying this tragedy struck and immediately those two said we're down there we're going and they hit the road they went down to the police department to beia during the trying time and mayor always says he's lucky his the first name is Mayor so he's always mayor mayor any case the uh at that moment it it personified what mayor W says and I when I see him sometimes at fire scenes or other scenes and mayor's common refrain he always says to the our professionals out there is when you're at a bed we're at a bed and I'd like him to say a few words on behalf of the committee and the committee members will speak as well but this will our commissioner to your words thank you it is with a sense of honor and pride mixed with sadness that we stand here today the renaming of the street will serve as a reminder to those of us on the township committee as well as all the citizens of Lakewood the tremendous appreciation we have to lakewood's finest it also serves to remind us of the daily sacrifice the families of our officers make as their loved ones stand by their commitment to Serve and Protect this great Township the naming of the street is not merily ceremonious as we report for work each day as Citizens come to conduct business and visitors make their way through the Halls they will all recall the ultimate sacrifice Chris made and they will remember the continuous gravity and the importance of our Police Department to Kelly Chris's family the Lakewood Police Department and the extended family of the lak police department I say we are grateful to you we are here for you we keep you in our prayers and we care for you and as the sorrowful sorrowful SS tones of the bagpipe Replay in my mind and the somber silence that descended on our town as thousands of fellow officers saluted a fallen brother as the people of Lakewood tearfully United to say goodbye to your beloved officer and the strains of Taps on the bule play back in my mind there's one refrain and words that I clearly hear Le say and I want to share with our our liquid Police Department always safe extra safe thank you for join mayor thank you for those beautiful words and before we call upon the family to come up here to be with us as we give over the U dedication of the signs I'd like to call upon our chief of police Robert Lawson to say a few words and and I must say this is certainly a trying time and getting through a trying time it certainly takes someone with the leaders capabilities that we have how F thank you thank you mayor th this undoubtedly was my most difficult experience in Chief as chief of police in Lakewood and and hopefully this will never be relived again by any Chief especially not here in Lakewood um we owe a tremendous debt and thanks to surrounding commun to Law Enforcement Officers across the state to our local Chiefs who took over our Patrol operations so officers could attend funerals so officers could attend counseling sessions without them we couldn't get through uh police officers are a Brotherhood whether you work in Bricktown Tom's River Wall Township Manchester Howell we're all Brothers under the uniform and we're there for them and they're there for us and that was never more evident than in this tragedy I would also like to thank the township committee especially Mayor Miller our police leaone mayor lickstein who was there for hours and hours with me and with the other officer offering his support um without that it would have been much more difficult and it really bolstered us to see the the committee behind us Ray Kohl's was there for hours and hours you know unfortunately um not all the committee could be there because it occurred over the the Sabbath but uh the the committeemen that were there were were tremendous support for all of us uh the agencies the state police tremendous tremendous support and we are going toh recognize some of the local Chiefs this evening so I can go on probably for hours and not thank all the appropriate people um my my office staff was there for countless hours Elizabeth Williams Karen mayor Leanne I mean everybody gave of themsel deputy chief Charles Smith he probably went for two days without any sleep at all deputy chief kapper in charge of our Tactical Team Lieutenant Greg Meyer you know my Command Staff detective Lieutenant Paul daily hours and hours and days without sleep until the uh the uh suspect was apprehended just a tremendous job by everybody within the police department our police family all of the officers all of the patrol officers out there searching for the suspect doing whatever they can gave up themselves gave many hours of their own time the support that we had from the community was tremendous we had the rashash shivas come in to offer their condolences we had people lining thousands and thousands of people from the community lining Mammoth Avenue it it was just so incredible I had never seen anything like that the hearts of the uh people and the residents just just poured out uh for Chris and for the other police officers who were who were in pain so again we will be recognizing uh some of the local Chiefs here tonight and I I know I miss people and thanking them but from the bottom of my heart thank you for your support uh getting us through these difficult times and as I I said we're a Brotherhood in your trying times we will be there for you also thank you at this point I'd like to pull upon Kelly the family chisa's family to please come up so we could present to you some of the signs that we have family stand in the middle here I'd like to call upon the like to pull upon the president ofba Gary to say a few words Gary thank you I'm not as elegant a speaker as you so I wrote M down I would like to thank the mayor committee the chief for honoring our fallen brother Chris in this way I would like to also thank everyone for showing such support for Chris I know how much Kelly Adam his mom appreciate the outpouring of well wishes they have received through Chris's passing I thought renaming the street in front of the police headquarters was most appropriate because we will see Chris's name and not only remember him every time we pass the signs but also recognize the sacrifice he made in line of duty maybe in some way his loss will make us more aware and diligent when we were out on patrol Chris Matos was a great cop and a great friend to everyone his memory lives on and all of us who were lucky enough to call him a friend and who I am sure is getting a kick out of the fact that we will now call the street right out front Matt Lo way we love you we miss you Chris God Speak at this time I'd like to call Kelly say a few words I also wrote mine down a said I can go on forever for all the thank yous I want to thank the township of Lakewood and the committee members the Lakewood PBA especially Gary and Lynn I don't know what I would have done without them in this the last two weeks I also want to thank everyone in New Jersey and the country who has been praying for me because I feel your prayers a lot of times after death we tend to for after a while not because we want to but as the same goes life goes on it will take a while for my life to go on because I feel it's been robbed of me the naming of the street will remind every officer who comes into work that Chris made the ultimate sacrifice on January 14th and every officer will know to be always safe extra safe only will the number 317 on the street sign stand out in the town and every officer's mind the last name Matos I couldn't wait to have will forever stand out in mine Chris and his father both died in this town and now I know they will never be forgotten I know Chris is looking down and is so proud of all the efforts everyone making to always remember him and on behalf of the Matos family and myself this is an honor of a man who touched so many lives words cannot describe the Bittersweet and feeling I have but I know his Legend will never die and he will be in my heart forever and I just want to thank everybody for everyone's support in this tragic time I'd like to just call upon ell's father for a moment just to give a few more words and I would like to say something Chris did not die in vain the unity that was brought about the unity that's tangible that's here in town will forever remain etched into our minds hearts and memories as tonight the photographers are taking pictures with the cameras we're taking this picture and internalizing it within our hearts and with the unity was brought about through this and that's why I say Chris did not thank you my name is William Townley uh Chris was to be my son-in-law and uh I'll never get to have that but I just want to thank everybody and I want for all positive things from this day forward to come from this tragedy we have a lot of good memories all good memories of Chris and I just want everybody to remember him tonight and remember him always and again all positive things to come from this thank you two more presentations of this topic one is a proclamation by the township committee for offic of Chris Matos whereas Barack Obama has stated law enforcement officers are true heroes quietly risking their life's every day to protect our Public Safety and private property the routine everyday nature of the courage makes it War the more extraordinary day and night these brave men and women leave home put on their badges report for Duty putting the life on the line for the rest of us and whereas passing the passing of Christoper Matos January 14th 2011 has caused a profound sense of loss to the community of the township of Lakewood as well as his family friends and colleagues and all those who knew him and where his officer Chris Chris Matos was dedicated member of the lak police department since August 14 2006 office Matos had previously served with the Englishtown Police Department for two years and had also served as a special police officer with the Freehold Township Police Department Long Branch police department and manison police department now therefore be resolved that I manasha Miller mayor of Township of Lakewood New Jersey on behalf of its governing body professionals employees as well as the community are proud to dedicate the Third Street in the township of Lakewood as Matos way on February 3rd 2011 in honor of Chris Matos Madam clerk may I have a motion from the committee and a second rame the street all in favor I I congratulations in a few moments we're going to open up the podium for the public to take comments to the public for the duration of an hour and upon completion of comments from the public we're all going to go outside we're going to do an unveiling of the sign for Matt Lo before I open up the the podium before I open the mic to public I just one more last presentation Chief you've lost a son you buried a son my buddies in Iraq sent over a flag which was flown on a lock Martin Viper tail number 90280 for a total of 2.5 hours over Iraq in support of operation udon presented to Rob lawon chief of police unfortunately the flag was not folded at this point I'm going to ask Gary to come here and go through the procedure of folding a flag for this thank you mayor this this plaque this FL will be in my office as a remembrance of of Chris he served with honor and and we will never forget thank you we will now open the comments public for the next hour although it's freezing cold out here we're warm at heart I would like to call upon from the audience all the chief of police from the surrounding towns to please come up here with us again all the chiefs of police from the surrounding towns please come be up here as well these Chiefs has been a tremendous source of help of mutual Aid during the trying time that we went through while we were grieving and while we were healing these Chiefs had their men in our town providing Mutual Aid without any additional expense to the taxpayer Chief Bry if you could come here as well we know you're hiding thank you I'm going to be passing over the mic to the chief of police we have a presentation to the Chiefs and then immediately after the unveiling of mat L's way major D'Angelo from New Jersey State Police I know you're here okay I see you as I spoke of inside without our fellow officers my fellow Chiefs of police and commanders we could have not we could not have carried on during this tragedy they provided resour Resources Staffing and most of all support to get us through this tragedy and carry on so it is with great pleasure I would like to recognize some of the Chiefs here and thank them for their support and promise them our support in their time as me as well so let's start with the uh the flx okay the first PL is for Chief Matt CS he is the chief of police I don't know if he's here this evening here somewhere Chief CS are you here here he comes size of Pat black the Chiefs we have a pin a liid pin with 3177 Chris's number on it with a black line through it representing his ultimate sacrifice and also a 37 sticker for them to fix on whatever they would desire to put it on I gratefully accept this on behalf of the many men and women in the police department I gratefully accept this from Chief Lawson on behalf of the many men and women of the police department that has spent many long hours out here assisting Lakewood there's nothing we'd rather do than help out our brothers and sisters in law enforcement we're glad to have assisted here at that time I thank you the next presentation is to Chief from Manchester uh Chief Ry retired last week um after a distinguished career of 33 years at the Manchester Police Department his successor is Chief Brian Kowski and we have plaqu for both of them to recognize their support during our time of need chief say a Mastery chief Master NY is the chief of Tom our neighbor to the South he is always there whenever we need him he provide not only officers but dispatchers and was a tremendous assistance I don't know how we would have gotten through this without chief Master nardy so uh chief Master nardy has been the chief probably longer than a lot of officers have been on the department I believe about 17 years with a 37e career and we hope he doesn't retire anytime soon just on behalf of uh Tomer Police Department uh Conor F we're very grateful for the opportunity that we had to come up here find police officer and uh we walked away from this department with a due respect for the job the men and women do in like Township we should be very proud of it so on behalf of Captain Henry the operations Bureau and the members of police department thank you very much the next presentation is to Chief Ron Carter the chief of how Police Department chief how our neighbor to the north again always there to support us whenever we need it and us for them so thank you R next presentation is to the chief of Wall Township unfortunately he he retired I believe two or three days ago so when I called he wasn't available so in his stad I talked to a uh a captain clay who sent up his SWAT Commander Lieutenant Jerry in inin who is here today to accept this presentation the next presentation is to Chief Rick Bist from Bricktown Police Department chief just like Tom's River chief Master nardy Chief berquist is always there always works with us very closely always supports Lakewood and we owe him a debt of gratitude thank you Chief thank you Chief I'd like to call up major D'Angelo from the New York Jersey State Police who is representing Colonel Rick Fuentes I'm sure everybody was aware of the tremendous presence of the New Jersey State Police they lined our streets they did protection details they were just tremendous the the show of support was overwhelming and we'd like to express our appreciation to the major and also to Colonel Fuentes thank you for all your help again on behalf of the township committee we thank all the surrounding towns and law enforcement agencies that have provided for us Mutual Aid during this trying time at this point I'd like to bring everyone's attention to our sign right here Kelly if you can please make your way to the sign and unveil for us what is going to be now known as mattos way ja this concludes the ceremony God bless the mano's family friends and all those that have come here this evening and God bless America yeah right