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Finally, city can begin mourning Liczbinski
Sadness and exhaustion were writ large on the faces of hundreds of cops as they waited in a seemingly endless line in Northeast Philadelphia last night to pay final respects to slain Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski.
They had endured a vicious murder of one of their own - the third in two years - and an intense five-day manhunt for the final suspect.
Now, it was finally time to mourn.
Liczbinski's viewing started off in grand fashion as Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, his deputies and dozens of officers from the 24th and 4th districts, where Liczbinski had worked, marched down Academy Road to the entrance of John F. Givnish Funeral Home.
The line for the viewing stretched down Academy Road and around Chalfont Street for several hours. No one seemed to mind the wait.
A cool breeze smelling of a possible rain enveloped the mourners as they made their way into the orange brick building with black bunting over the entrance.
When the mourners emerged from the funeral home, most were holding pamphlets containing photos of Liczbinski posing with his wife, daughter and two sons and laughing with fellow officers - a clearly happy man content with his life as a guardian of the city's safety.
The pamphlet also included the Policeman's Prayer:
"When I start my tour of duty God,
wherever crime may be,
as I walk the darkened streets alone,
Let me be close to thee."
Many officers were keenly aware that the same funeral home had been the site about six months ago of the viewing for Officer Chuck Cassidy, who was shot to death Oct. 31 when he interrupted a robbery at a doughnut shop in West Oak Lane.
Highway Patrol Capt. Michael Cochrane said it was an honor for him and his officers to escort the hearse that brought Liczbinski's body to the funeral home.
Cochrane said the arrest Wednesday night of Eric DeShawn Floyd, the third suspect in the murder, "allows us to totally concentrate on the sergeant's family and their loss."
Sgt. Daniel Dutch, of the narcotics strike force, walking back from the funeral home, said, "It's tough. We lost a brother. It was hard to see the family in there so upset."
"We're trying to hold it all together," said Officer Brian Gordon of the 15th District, the district where Officer Gary Skerski, who was shot to death May 8, 2006, served. "But it's clearly tough on his family."
Gordon said he was going home to be with his kids "and cry with them."
Emotions will no doubt continue to run high today when Liczbinski is laid to rest at Resurrection Cemetery, in Bensalem, Bucks County. Hundreds of motorcycle cops will salute the hearse as it pulls into the graveyard.
Liczbinski's call numbers will be retired at a graveside ceremony, where officials will play a police-radio recording of him responding to Saturday's fatal armed robbery, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore. *
