Sgt David Sussman Retirement Ceremony Lakewood

[Applause] good afternoon everybody thank you for coming uh for David's farewell there was times that I didn't think D was going to make it but we're very proud of them uh David's had a a distinguished career here um if he wasn't retiring this early I'm sure he would have retired at a higher rank than Sergeant he's outand individ individual uh very intelligent uh has worked hard here um I went through his file as as I do for all the officers before they retire just to go through them and see what's in them and uh um many many letters of recommendation that they've had and there's one in particular that I I wanted to share with you because I feel that this really simplifies David your officer susman thank you so much for bringing such caring and compassion to rescue the eight newborn blood loes on never even hesitated about lifting that 600 lb grain 600 even though you could have H yourself I think you did I don't think you know how very grateful we are to you and the Animal Control Officers I wrote to the police department about you but I wanted to thank you specifically with the note I so feel so very fortunate to live in a town with a police department that has someone as special as you on the force thank you PS all eight ducklings are fine as of this morning when I saw them at the lake this is [Applause] caring compassionate um I'm sad that he's going to be leaving us I I I hoped he'd be around at least until I retired you know when people who came on eight years after you retired you know maybe you look at yourself as getting old but uh we will miss David um and I also have um his picture when he started the police department he's aged a little bit but he's aged well same size so that's all I have to say I I'll turn it over to uh the PBA stac how's everyone seeing those who don't know me my name is Steve KAC I'm the uh state for Local 71 um I wrote this on a piece of paper so Dave would be mad at me I used a little bit of ink I know how OC is about you know saving the environment you know turning off cars light switches um and I think actually um that's what got him in trouble so back with the light switches and his brief B with narps but anyway um for those who don't know um oh I'm sorry I forgot all about it hold on um lard can you open the door I have to introduce a guest speaker open the door pleas Joe Russell please walk inside and also says Dave I'm going to remember Dave's that one night Long Branch from a med game we got all stuck up in uh W Branch with the train SMI and uh we did we very much did yes um but Dave uh I want to I want to uh give you your silver life card and pin and I want to wish you well and all your endeavors [Applause] one I'm Captain Tom lurger it's like the chief and Steve said sad to see Dave go he's been a great officer here achieved the rank of Sergeant um many years here and we really really are proud of him um I do have a couple stories that I could tell about Dave but uh most of them guys are too young for but one story I have that I always gotten mer Dave has heard us a thousand times uh when I first got on a job they was had that here for a few years and we busted each other's chops here and there so uh one day told him I said hey you know I'm thinking about start working out how many years have you been working out he says I've been working out for 12 years and I said you know that's all I'm going to get after years as you see I I do I do plan to uphold your tradition turn off back night I do I won't save any but I will uphold that tradition we do have a shadow box to present to him for his honorable dischar [Music] this shadow box here States honorable discharge presented to Sergeant David susman and appreciation for your service and dedication to the lak police department August 26 1988 through December 1st 2013 congratulations [Applause] was dressed in this C colored uniform that is the uniform that he wore the police 25 years so he still fits in this right and as the chief said one of the few guys that are still on the job I can't with that said Dave congratulations I do have one thing before he steps up the podium I want to make sure you can all see Dave [Applause] I'll keep this brief this his class participation so if you know the words sing along dance in the aisles whatever you'd like to do uh I'd like to start by thanking my parents for coming in for Cal from California and yes their arms are tired I'd like to thank my sons Dean and Ben for being here my girlfriend Chris her daughter Carson her parents Joe and G you know I made fun of uh briany because he cried throughout his entire ceremony I swear I wouldn't so uh I'm going to do my best not to thank you all for showing your support for me and for the police department in in general before I go any further though I'd like to take a moment to remember some of lpd's officers that due to injury or illness or evil were not able to make it there it goes to the end of their 25 year careers badge 183 which K who come to cancer after we lost him there was rarely a day that I didn't think of him Steve nickens badged 57 cancer taken too soon but he has left us his son badge 318 Lenny bosk badge 188 heart attack Lenny was a kind and gentle soul who partnered with the last can9 this department had BGE 289 John Wilson who came back from being hit by a car only to suffer a career-ending gunshot while leading the entry team through the door for a drug and gun warrant the toughest guy I've ever met badge 246 Lona Senor and badge 297 Jason the foot both of whom suffered injuries from the same ENT K job as John badge 240 Jim vand Over who followed in his Father's Footsteps by being one of the most motivated street cops I've ever had the pleasure of working with Jim had his career shortened by poorly treated injured that's 271 William me you Prest 270 I'm sorry taken from his family and friends due to a car accident lastly and most recently badge 317 Chris Matos who was assassinated while doing a standard check of an average Lakewood neighborhood more important than the reasons their careers ended is how they lived their lives and I am proud Bo now who exactly is Dave suspect well I like to think of myself as sort of an authority on Dave since I've known him almost my whole life according to the urban dictionary.com Dave is the coolest person in the group he's the model of perfect no man can come close to the glory that is Dave it goes on to say that Dave is amazing and has the most friends ever Dave is not a [Music] salmon I I don't understand that part um because I believe in the adage you are when you eat and thanks to shuy posos the H Baker on Second Street I've eaten a lot of sand thank you shy is [Applause] here I dig my family moved to Lakewood when I was five I attended C before its Spruce Street School fifth grade I experienced prinson Avenue School and its playground or as I call it the beach in Lord of the Flies the middle school was my home for 6th 7th and 8th and it was there that I corrected my history teacher and told her that she had been saying Pacific but I was sure that she meant specific this exemplifies two things number one my love and understanding of the English language and B my fearlessness and trying to help someone in Authority do the right thing the second one is a trade I got from my father it never helped either one of us in our careers if you don't know my dad he's the old guy sitting up front who will almost certainly fell out something inappropriate one of the reasons we moved from the woods of how too late good is because my dad had worked very hard for many hours each day in New York and he sometimes would fall asleep on the bus ride home and wake up at the end of the line Lakewood yep we moved here in 1969 to spare my dad the embarrassment time of getting on another bus to go 5 miles north but I digress again in Lakewood High School I excelled in the sport that is naturally taken up by most skinny white kids who are not athletic enough for the usual uh Sports bowling it was during this time that I solidified my friendship with Kenny work I still remember talking to Kenny in Ocean Lanes one night a few years after high school he was a rookie at LPD and he pointed out one of his co-workers who happened to be on his bowling team the guy guy was making a mockery of the sport it was loud and demonst wearing Dwayne Wayne flip up glasses and using words I've never heard before it was the first time I met Willie Clark we love you Willie Lieutenant Joe gz patrolman Rob Meyer and Captain Greg me were also guys I M with in high school Greg Greg wasn't very good and when I when I point to the Al he broke into like a chant and he said that's all right that's okay you're going to work for me someday he was right I won a speechwriting competition and had the honor of speaking at high school graduation in my speech I talked about appreciating the fact that I didn't grow up in how or brick or one of the other racially homogenous towns in the area learning to coexist with people of all Races and religions was important to me I went on to graduate OCC in then Arizona State University and people ask why I returned to New Jersey and although there are a few reasons one big one was Arizona's lack of diversity a few months after I started at ASU Arizona's newly elected governor Evan meum made his first order of business to the proclamation that Arizona would not observe Martin Luther King's birthday as a holiday I knew then that Arizona was not the state for a moderate Jewish kid from New Jersey while finishing up my business degree I decided that I didn't want to go into business anymore I had taken a law enforcement class as an elective and that along with my respect for police officers it made me change career paths I came home and announced that I was going to become a police officer and my mom said what oh no you're not I took every test I could find and I took a job at IBM in the meantime as luck would have it as scored number one un like was written test Civil Service still gave an actual physical test back then and I passed it they had suspicions at the psychological but couldn't prove anything and I somehow squeaked past the background check I got hired along with Steve bman and Brian py both of whom had dad's who served with the LPD I quickly established that I was the one to watch or the one with a watch when we were in the old Indoor Range downstairs before we started the academy and I pointed out to Sergeant Lawson that we were supposed to work until 5: and it was oh almost nearly that time I got called into a deputy Chief's office and that marked the first time I was told that my career was was tenuous at best if someone started a pool to betb on which one of the three new hires would be the last one here after 25 plus years I don't think I'd have been the one people that on I many of people to thank for helping me over the years and some just for being good guys to work with the before mentioned Kenny work who's like a brother to me Willie Clark who is a very loyal friend and a constant source of amusement Mike mcgallen kept every day interesting um I have to thank Bob pilio I'm glad to see you here Bob thank you so much for showing up I have to thank Bob perfilio badge 160 for being a great training officer and for bringing me to atio Pizzeria in the top Plaza on Route 9 North where I met and befriended the two young men Lou and Tony who took over the business after their dad passed away this is the second shout out I've given to a lakid eery so while I'm at it let me also thank Mark Goodman of goodmon's Health Foods at third flion boy from Pizza Plus on Fourth Street try the sushi and Dove and the guys from The Bagel Lou without the kindness and generosity of these businesses I would be much skinnier and much poorer but I digress while here I was able to create a community service program that saw coordination between DPW the police department and the court I coordinated with the state to run roadside mobile inspection operations and a few taxi inspection days I led a charge that almost single-handedly was responsible for getting the state to close the loophole that allowed many unqualified cars to skip inspection with a special designated sticker I've written numerous safety articles for a local direct mailer and also reached out to the community via the Lakewood Scoop I've run in the torch run to raise money for the Special Olympics and this coming may I will ride for the seventh year in a row to Washington DC in the Police Unity Tour to honor officers all over the country who died on duty I was also told uh by John Mel who's big and scary that I should thank him he you are my idol John just the way I wanted to say Dave thank you for being here she's not afraid I even got to challenge myself last last year on a 2-day 168 M mountainous bike ride to raise money for high lifelines cam s but whatever I accomplished or was able to do it was no better than what many of the men and women in this department do every day they are the ones who do CPR on a lifeless form of though they are the ones who wait into the lake in uniform to save a drunk who's in the midst of trying to drown themselves they are the ones who try to find the words to tell someone that their loved one has died they are the ones who are given deadly weapons but expected to never use them they are humans given jobs for superheroes and expected to perform them humanely but robotically they are the ones who after directing traffic for an hour due to a fatal accident are expected to keep their cool when someone doesn't understand what cones and a police car and a road clothes sign means my time here at the lak police department has come to a close it hasn't always been easy but it has been my pleasure to serve my community I'm happy to have been promoted a year and a half ago and I can say my days got much easier with the retirements of some of my own bosses but I do have faith in the current captains and lieutenants who will lead this department for years in the future I ask the citizens of blood to appreciate the service they receive because I believe this is the best most caring Department you could ever hope for I leave you with a few thoughts number one every day is Earth Day shut the light when you leave the room if you're not in the car anymore turn it off I don't care if you're only running to go to the bathroom number two always wear sunscreen that's kind of self-explain and see thank you very much we're going to be convening at Charlie Browns on Route 70 for uh a little food and chatter uh more than happy to see everybody out there I don't anybody and talk about de line them up come on S you s no that was just for what stop I just want to say I'm really disappointed that my friends here rer couldn't be here shy bot from the [Applause] I thought this day would never come because I knew Dave is not going to just retire as a regular patrolman and being number three on the list for like 20 years I I made it chewy now your profits are going to go [Music] up hi my name is I have a few important things to say about David that you probably don't know number one wasn't always the very handsome guy who she came in fact when David was born in the delivery room the nurse diped his face 4 years old his parents took him to the Brun Zoo the people at the zoo thank them for returning him when he was 18 he turned to his father and said Papa I'd like to go to college and his father said that's nice but first mama and I want you to finish grade school he's a very very special human being special to me anybody else that'll be more on the audience all right we'll see for later David on behalf of the Police Department chief Lawson Township Lakewood thank you very much than