The six court officers were honored for their work in saving an individual who had become unresponsive inside the courthouse’s AP2 courtroom. The person had been struggling to breathe and had pinpoint pupils when the officers administered two doses of Narcan to them. The person at first refused to be treated by medics who had responded to the courthouse, but was convinced by court officers to get treatment.
Other officers from Queens Criminal, Supreme Criminal, Civil and Family Courts were all also variously honored for interceding in sometimes violent altercations that could have resulted in harm had they not been there.
Officers were honored for saving a court user who struck her head during a seizure, rescuing someone outside a courthouse who had been stabbed, performing CPR on a court user who was choking, and saving a mother and her child from being attacked at the Family Court entrance.
Judge Edwina Richardson, the deputy chief administrative judge for Justice Initiatives, said court officers not only enforce order and safety but provide stability and peace of mind for everyone who walks through the halls of the state’s courts. Richardson said when she visits the state’s problem-solving courts, which diverts litigants from incarceration to treatment programs, users regularly report it was the compassion and encouragement of the court officers they regularly saw that kept them motivated to finish their programs.
“Court officers are the ambassadors of justice, often the first face seen by the people who are entering our court buildings; and more often than not, are entering on perhaps the worst days of their lives,” Richardson said to the gathered court officers on Monday. “Your presence, your professionalism, your compassion, matters more than you will ever know.”
In addition to Silvera and Richardson, court officers were presented with certificates from Administrative Judges Shahabuddeen Ally, Anne-Marie Jolly, Tamiko Amaker, Michelle Johnson, and Supervising Judges Michael Goldman, Edwin Novillo and Gigi Parris, and First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George.
“We know that the courts cannot and will not operate without our incredible court officers,” St. George said. “The Unified Court System takes great pride in the professionalism, dedication and heroic actions demonstrated by these exemplary officers.”