Bidding To Win Help For Memorial

Several police fraternal associations were represented at the wreath-laying ceremony that took place at the Police Arlington Memorial in Cypress Hills Cemetery on May 16. Although the memorial's bronze statue of a patrolman and brass plaques were stolen years ago, its pedestal remains. (photo: Bill Mitchell) There were enough cameras to rival the coverage of a press conference or a movie premiere, proving the adage of better late than never at the Police Arlington Memorial in Cypress Hills Cemetery at the Brooklyn/Queens border.

The occasion was a May 16 wreath-laying ceremony, performed by several police fraternal organizations at the site, also referred to as the Police Gardens, which has continued to garner attention in recent weeks after decades of existence as something of a secret.

How the word got out and set a sequence of events in motion, culminating in the ceremony, seemingly began with a bid on eBay, the Internet auction site.

Bob Berl, a Glendale resident and retired police officer who had served at the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills, is a collector of police memorabilia.

Joseph Wolff, president of the NYPD Traffic Squad Benevolent Association, was among those who addressed active and retired police officers on hand for the May 16 ceremony at the Police Arlington Memorial in Cypress Hills Cemetery. Looking on at left is Rev. Frank Shannon, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Cypress Hills. (photo: Bill Mitchell) As usually happens with collectors, an acquisition leads to a lesson— one not limited to ascertaining the value of a thing, but finding its place in history as well.

For Berl, the process originated with coming upon the auction listing for a certificate of life membership in something called the Metropolitan Police Benevolent Burying Association of the Police Department of the City of New York.

Another era

Bearing a date of June 6, 1918, the part of the certificate that was handwritten displayed a style of script from a kind of writing instrument that rendered a date all but unnecessary— clearly, both the pen and penmanship belonged to another era.

The Police Arlington Memorial as it looked in 1954, when photographed for this issue of the NYPD magazine Spring 3100. Showing an official seal, the certificate affirms the issuance of life membership "upon condition that the said member complies with the laws, rules and regulations now governing the said Association or that may hereafter be enacted for its government."

The most curious part, however, had nothing to do with any name, date or explanation, whether printed or written by hand. The thing that seemed especially intriguing was the image appearing amid the name of the association—the likeness of a police officer from long ago, standing atop a pedestal.

Berl placed his bid and when the auction ended, the prize was his for the winning sum of three dollars.

With that, the journey of Berl's learning experience began, as he set out to find what he could about the Metropolitan Police Benevolent Burying Association.

"I called people at the Police Museum and made a trip down there," Berl told the Times Newsweekly. "The guy I spoke to at the museum didn't do any research, but said he had never heard of it. He seemed to think that I had been snookered— taken for the three dollars, because it was a fake."

Put it aside for a while Berl put the certificate away and forgot about it "for two or three years."

When he came upon it again "while doing some things," however, the spark of curiosity got him going. This time, there would be no stopping, until he was satisfied that a conclusion had been reached.

He turned to the Internet, where he performed some searches. Meanwhile, a clue was close at hand, in a 1954 issue of the police magazine Spring 3100 already in his possession.

On the cover was a photo of a po- lice ceremony and a statue—the same image as the one depicted on the membership certificate—figuring prominently in the picture.

"I had that one in my collection, but had never looked at it," Berl admitted, regarding the magazine. "Once I started looking into it and saw that there was such an association for the Metropolitan Police Department, which predates the NYPD, that's when I got really interested."

Using his computer, Berl found some vintage articles from The New York Times, identifying the location of the burial site as a place within Cypress Hills Cemetery. It was a stunning discovery for Berl, who has an aunt buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery." We used to go out to her grave and we would drive right past that section—and I had no idea," he said.

This is understandable, considering that the bronze statue of the police officer has been missing since it was stolen in 1966 (brass plaques were removed sometime later)—a year before Berl, the first in his family to join the police force, was born.

Erected in 1872

In doing his research, Berl found a story by a since-deceased NYPD detective and historian named John Reilly, who provided information regarding the statue, which had been erected in 1872 to commemorate "the bravery of the police during the 1863 Civil War draft riots."

According to Reilly, the Metropolitan Police Benevolent Burying Association had been established in 1869 "to provide for the burial of such of their comrades who died without funds, family or friends or if the next of kin requested burial."

Between 1868 and 1918, "some 30 active or retired members" of the city's police department were interred in the police cemetery, Reilly states.

Based on a 1999 visit, he had found "just over 100 interments" in the police plot. There were six known members who had died in the line of duty.

One dollar to join

The cost of life membership in the Metropolitan Police Benevolent Burying Association was one dollar. Initially, membership was a matter of choice, but due to low finances for this purpose, the department made it a requirement in 1918. To bolster the available funds, in 1931, each member of the department was assessed the additional sum of 25 cents to establish a new fund for upkeep and repairs.

"By 1946, the Metropolitan Police Benevolent Burying Association was in a state of suspension, legally the association had ceased to exist," Reilly notes in his story, adding that after various ideas were suggested, the Police Honor Legion became the administrator of the police cemetery.

Sees it for himself

After Berl learned where the site was located, it became a matter of seeing it. He said that the people connected with Cypress Hills Cemetery gave him all the help that they could—Cemetery President John Desmond is a retired New York City police officer—and once he had a certain amount of information, "I started the ball rolling."

He began writing letters and sending e-mails, hoping to make people within the law enforcement community aware of the burial ground—and the need for a refurbishing of it.

Before long, word of the Police Arlington Memorial made it to a message board on the Internet, followed by a story in the New York Daily News, written by Lisa L. Colangelo—a veteran of the Queens beat, going back to her days at the Queens Tribune.

"That's when everything turned around," Berl said.

As Colangelo reported, the burial site is technically owned by the NYPD Honor Legion, one of the fraternal organizations represented at the May 16 wreath-laying ceremony.

At this time, it remains to be seen when a statue might be installed on the existing pedestal and whether it would replicate the original or involve a new design.

Andy Siroka, first vice-president of the Honor Legion, told the Times Newsweekly that the organization is looking at how best to establish "a fitting remembrance" at the site.

"Everything will be in steps," as the group reviews what it "will do and can do" from among the possible options, he said.

A starting point

Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch saw the day's event as a starting point for a possible combined effort by the various police organizations, while praising Cypress Hills Cemetery's staff as "terrific" for recent improvements at the site.

"[Cypress Hills Cemetery] started the process by redoing the walkway paths and concrete, pruning the bushes and growing the grass," Lynch noted. "Now it's up to us to put the concrete and the funds together to put the statue back up."

Joseph Wolff, president of the NYPD Traffic Squad Benevolent Association, observed that the burial ground—originally started with a donation of land by the trustees of Cypress Hills Cemetery—represents "the first time in the United States that civilians really began to recognize how vital a role the police play in society. "

This sense of appreciation came on the heels of the city's Civil War draft riots—three days of mob violence with fatal beatings and arson fires—in 1863, Wolff pointed out.

Ironically, the hill where the Police Arlington Memorial sits overlooks the graves of Civil War soldiers.

Wolff also advised that while the memorial's statue was intended as a generic symbol, the man who had served as the model for it was a Manhattan traffic officer.

Wolff, like Siroka and Lynch, addressed the crowd of active and retired police who gathered for the Saturday morning observance. Rev. Frank Shannon, pastor of nearby Blessed Sacrament Church and chaplain for the NYPDs Anchor Club, performed an invocation. The sounds of a bugle and bagpipes were heard at different times as part of the program.

A postcard featuring a color image of the Police Arlington Memorial, as it would look in all its glory, was distributed to attendees. On the reverse side, the words of the Police Arlington Remembrance are printed.

Words of Remembrance

The words were read aloud by Dan Carione of the NYPD: "It is natural that men who have lived and labored together in life should sleep together in death. Members of the police force are comrades. They have common duties and sacrifices, common joys and sorrows, joint hopes and ambitions. Misfortunes incident to life tighten the bonds of association. Comrades fall out of the ranks through no fault of their own. Age weakens them, sickness disables and perhaps impoverishes them. Their kindred may have dispersed or died and to other pains are added the pangs of loneliness and a nameless grave. What a comfort it must be to those who alone await the grim reaper to know that they will not be forgotten or neglected, to know that the comrades who marched proudly and bravely at their side will keep their memory green."

As for Bob Berl, he expressed the wish that the Police Arlington Memorial will be restored, to serve as a place to honor fallen heroes.

"Think about it in this sense—a hundred years from now, the officers who die [in] line of duty, are they going to be forgotten?" he said, then paused, before adding, "I hope not."