Two of the twenty recipients of the Kings County District Attorney's 23rd Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Awards who were recognized for "their bravery, diligence, dedication to the job, and involvement in the community" are
Auxiliary
Deputy Chief Anthony Christo – Deputy
Chief Christo began his volunteer service as an NYPD
Auxiliary Police Officer in December 1972. Citing
a desire to “serve as the eyes and ears of the NYPD”,
Deputy Chief Christo completed the Auxiliary training
course and was assigned to the 66th Precinct
in Borough Park.
He excelled in assisting
uniformed officers with crowd control, traffic control,
crime prevention, and patrol. Over the years,
Deputy Chief Christo received many promotions, beginning
in 1975 when he was promoted to Auxiliary Sergeant, up
until 2001, when he was promoted to his current rank of
Auxiliary Deputy Chief.
He works with uniformed
officers in the recruitment and retention of Auxiliary
Officers in Brooklyn South, which currently maintains
the largest auxiliary membership, citywide. Deputy
Chief Christo has assisted in deploying Auxiliary
Officers to high crime areas, sensitive locations,
houses of worship, Prospect Park, and the Summer Concert
Series.
He also played a significant role in
leading local officials to rename Shore Road and 74th Street in honor of Linying Gong, the first
Asian-American female Auxiliary Police Captain in
Brooklyn South, who passed away after a lengthy illness.
Detective Mike Cleary – Known as the “Sheriff of Windsor Terrace,” Detective Cleary retired from the police force this past March after 22 years on foot-patrol duty, serving the community of Windsor Terrace in the 72nd Precinct. Detective Cleary was born and raised in the neighborhood he was later charged with protecting. Everyone in the neighborhood knew him.
Detective Cleary would gather information from residents and merchants as he walked his beat, stopping at local businesses to hear what was going on in the community. He would get complaints to look into, such as graffiti in the area, burglaries and robberies. Everyone came to him to inform him of crimes they witnessed, and trusted Detective Cleary to take care of them. He made everyone in the neighborhood feel safe.
Detective Cleary joined the NYPD in 1985, starting out in Harlem’s 28th Precinct. He nearly lost his life after five years on the job when, in August 1990, Detective Cleary and his partner were chasing a suspect who suddenly pulled a submachine gun on them and pulled the trigger. The cops’ lives were saved because the safety was on and the gun would not fire.
Detective Cleary returned to Windsor Terrace the following year. He tried to help troubled kids. Instead of arresting kids for graffiti, he would make them wash their tags off with hot water and write essays about what they did wrong. He once brought a local teacher’s daughter home after catching her drinking in a park with other kids, instead of arresting her.
Detective Cleary would often adjust his tours to chase crime trends. Recently, when a thief was snatching tires and rims around 4:00 AM, Detective Cleary told his captain that he would like to begin his tours before dawn.
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The text above is a portion of a press release issued by the Kings County District Attorney's Office of Public Information.