Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Rico was a great friend and fellow officer of mine at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. I had been a seasonal for 2-3 years when he came on the force.

Always there when you needed help, he was fun, caring, dedicated and generous, but also industrious and dependable.

He started as a seasonal and then became full-time at some point after I left the force in 1979.

I remember a 1978 incident which illustrated his judicious behavior. I was on patrol with an inexperienced seasonal (who shortly thereafter left the force) while trying to get a situation under control in the middle of a crowd. A third party trouble maker was trying to stir up bystanders. My attention turned to the trouble maker who was warned HE may be the one who would be arrested. Things were starting to become of concern to me UNTIL I saw Rico, and my (now deceased) other great friend and fellow officer Larry Feldman, slip unnoticed into the periphery in an unmarked patrol car. They simply waited while I cuffed the rabble-rouser (who turned into a cry-baby even before we left the parking lot). I went from concerned to confident knowing my great fellow officers would be out of that patrol car in a heartbeat if things had gone bad. The crowd backed off and everything deescalated. No one was harmed.

Chris L Nelson, Seasonal patrolman
Presque Isle State Park Police, summers of 1976-1979

August 15, 2021

A Hero now in Heaven, Always remembered and Never forgotten.

Kim Weigand - PA C.O.P.S.
Mom of Sgt. Mike Weigand E.O.W. 9/14/2008

November 17, 2014

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, REST IN PEACE.

N.J. TROOPER
NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE

March 12, 2008

"The Badge"

He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.

He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.

Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.

He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whos blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.

His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.

He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.

And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.

But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.

Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.

Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.

So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.

In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.

Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.

Written By:
David L. Bell
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1999 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell
Richland County Sheriff's Dept., Columbia, SC

January 17, 2008

You are remembered today and thank you Sir for your service

Pat Van Den Berghe, Manchester, NH
Neighbors for a Better Manchester, NH

November 29, 2007

Here we are one year later honoring and remembering you as always.

Cpl/1 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police

November 17, 2007

Thanking you today and remembering you always.

Cpl/1 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police

November 17, 2006

To Officer Anthony (Rico) Freitas, his family and friends, and fellow officers:

On this the thirteenth anniversary of your tragic death, please know that you are remembered. Your valor and dedication are not forgotten. Rest in Peace, Officer Freitas.

May your family continue to be supported by their law enforcement family, and other police survivors.

This reflection is sent with the utmost respect for the many years of distinquished service Officer Freitas gave to his community and the citizens of Pennsylvania, and for the supreme sacrifice he and his family made on November 17, 1992.

Phyllis L. Loya, mother of Larry Lasater, eow 4/24/05

November 17, 2005

Thank You sir for your service. You are in a better place now, I'm sure.
God bless the loved ones whom you left behind. You shall all reunite one day.

JR, Ptlm.
CPD, Lehigh County, PA

June 26, 2005

On the anniversary of your death, I salute you for your service and honor you for your sacrifice.

Rest in peace.

November 17, 2004

Thank you for your service, God bless you. REST IN PEACE

TMP

June 12, 2004