so many of us. some people witnessed that horrible day and were paralyzed. detective liu witnessed it and saw the possibility of service. a possibility of being part of something that would help others. for 170 years, immigrants to this city have found a home in the nypd like detective liu and detective ramos. to help others to have a life of significance. only the homelands have changed over time. first, it was the irish. then the italians. like pet racino who called himself joe, too. he was murdered by the maufio while on asanementuasipement in italy, and now our cops are from everywhere. the nypd looks a lot more like the city it serves than some people think. more than half of our members call new york city home, and live within its five boroughs just like detective liu and detective ramos.
take. as every day we face people who need help or people who are hurting. and we help them. we answer 4.5 radio runs a year in the city. nearly 400,000 arrests. and for good or ill, only a tiny handful make the news. in the millions literally millions of the rest go unnoticed. we do this because we took an oath. we do this because we believe in possibility. this is what we signed up for. the possibility of helping people. of helping others. the possibility of making a safer, purer city. to detective liu and detective ramos brothers and sisters in blue, the thousands of you who are lined up on the rainy streets outside, i am so proud of you. proud of you for making those possibilities a reality for so many in the city. even after 44 years, i am still
so proud to be one of you. we re cops. we hold the line. the thin blue line. we don t quit when things are hard. because when aren t they? we took this job to prevent crime and disorder. over the past 2 year2 years, this department has reminded the world of how that s done and how it can be done. the mission has not changed. the belief in possibility has not changed. and the much larger part of this city or this country, a much larger part than you think is proud of you too. there are people who need us. we will not abandon them. to do so would be to dishonor the memories of detective liu and detective ramos. it would dishonor the others killed with their partners. a lot of those partners were as different as detective liu and ramos. different races, different
languages. because every police car holds a little bit of this city. over 130 officers have been killed in the line of duty in the last 45 years. and it would dishonor them too. so we cannot fault them. we cannot flag. we will move forward, for we carry the possibility of all those dead and all those who have worn the uniform before us. it s the possibility of making a better world, and it s impossible to let their sacrifices and their efforts be in vain. but today we say farewell to detective first grade liu as we said farewell to detective first grade ramos last week. we thank the liu family for sharing him with us. as their guests we mourn with them. we take comfort in the buddha s words that even when death comes, the lessons of goodness
means. a promise that no matter where people have come from no matter what troubles they have left behind, here they can lead lives full of hope and possibility. and the liu family took new york up on that great promise. while detective liu s father labored long hauers in the garmt industry, detective liu studied hard in the public schools. he learned english, prepared himself for college. detective liu s dream was clear and it was a noble one, to don the blue uniform, to pin on the badge, to dedicate himself to protecting and serving the city he loved. detective liu s life resolved around his family the family he was born into and his second