A member of the Department's Emergency Service Unit assigned to the rescue and recovery operation at the World Trade Center.
[Image & caption from journal's inside back cover.]

Excerpts
from
the NYC
Correction
Department's
Medal Day 2002
ceremony journal

On the morning of September 11, within moments of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Department of Correction implemented its emergency response plan, mobilizing hundreds of uniformed and civilian employees to assist in the City's rescue and recovery efforts.

Emergency Service Unit personnel trained in confined space-rescue were dispatched to Ground Zero to help search for survivors, as were personnel from the K-9 Unit.
[From journal's front cover.]
Three launches from the Harbor Unit helped to evacuate people from the area to points in Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey. At the same time, a convoy of much-needed equipiment from Rikers Island -- medical supplies, Scott-Paks, generators, portable lighting, all-terrain vehicles and more were delivered to rescue workers on scene. Telecommunications specialists helped to establish telephone and other communication services at various command centers around the City. In the days immediately following the attack, Correction Officers were also assigned to the evidence recovery operation at the Freshkills landfill on Staten Island.

In addition to these duties, Correction personnel were the primary support unit at the temporary morgue established at NYC's Bellevue Hospital. More than 60 staff, comprising the Department's Criminal Justice, Telecommunications, Storehouse and Support Service units, as well as union leaders from the Department's two largest unions,
[Image that accompanied this text.]
the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association and the Correction Captains Association, assisted the Medical Examiners office to establish and maintain this command.

The Department's operations at Ground Zero, Freshkills and the Morgue continued to February of this year. The events of 9/11 and its aftermath spurred all agencies of City government, and indeed, all citizens, to lend all possible assistance to the rescue and recovery of this great City. The Department of Correction is grateful to acknowledge, in this Medal Day journal, the men and women of the Department who answered the call for help with dedication and professionalism.



Catherine M. Raymond
Chief of Administration

Capt. Joseph Ferramosca
Office of Chief of Adm.

C. O. Louis
Cafiero
Office of Chief of Adm.

C. O.Willy Cintron
Office of Chief of Adm.

On the morning of September 11, Chief of Administration Catherine Raymond and members of her staff became personally involved in a major effort to assist and evacuate the area surrounding the World Trade Center site at great personal risk.

Chief Raymond, Captain Joseph Ferramosca, and Correction Officers Louis Cafiero and Willy Cintron raced to the scene in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, just eight blocks south of Department Headquarters. With debris and dust raining down on them, these individuals remained calm and focused and provided assistance to nurnerous civilians who were attempting to make their way to safety. They then responded to P.S. 234, the grammar school on Greenwich Street near the disaster site, where they assisted in evacuating the students and faculty from the school. They then canvassed the school to make sure nobody was left behind.

With so many acts of heroism surrounding the events of September 11, it might be easy to overlook some. Yet it is important to take time to remember each of them and the people who, without concern for their own safety, helped others that day. For their courageous actions which are in keeping with the finest tradition of the New York City Department of Correction, Chief of Administration Catherine Raymond, Captain Joseph Ferramosca, and Correction Officers Louis Cafiero and Willy Cintron are recognized with the Exceptional Merit medal.

To We Remember, NYC DOC Medal Day 2002 ceremony journal list of deceased members.

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