PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Fraternal Order of Police on Wednesday hosted a ceremony dedicating a plaque in memory of Sgt. Richard Mendez, who died in the line of duty last October.
“Every day is a struggle. Every day is a struggle for us. He was our world.”
Alexandra Carerro, Mendez’s widow, says she thinks about him every day.
“He was loving. He was kind,” she said. “He was such a humble man. He was supportive. He celebrated everyone's accomplishments.”
Mendez’s daughter Mia says she was close with her dad.
“We used to go on a lot of long trips driving. So it's just mostly us chatting the entire way up,” she said.
Reflecting on the number of officers lost in the line of duty, FOP President Roosevelt Poplar said, “This is the 127th plaque dedication that we've done.”
Poplar said policing is a dangerous job, and routine situations can quickly turn deadly.
“You go out to serve the community. We do it with the best of our ability. And at the end of the day, we can't guarantee that we're going to come home.”
John Stanford, now the first deputy of field operations with the Police Department, was interim police commissioner in October. He was the one tasked to deliver the news to the family that Mendez had been killed while trying to prevent a carjacking in a parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport.
“There's nothing that prepares you for that, that type of circumstance,” Stanford said.
Carerro says the memorial plaque is a reminder that her husband will not be forgotten, and she remarked on the level of comfort it brings.
“It helps — the overwhelming love and support I've been receiving from the Philadelphia Police Department,” she said — but, she said, Mendez was the love of her life.
“My biggest regret is not being able to grow old with him.”