New York's Country 94.7's First Responder Friday
Strikeout Suicide game draws big crowd in Baldwin
Beyond the Badge NY steps up to bat against police suicide at second annual event
LI Herald
Story by JD Freda
Photo by Bridget Downes
October 16th, 2020
Story by JD Freda
Photo by Bridget Downes
October 16th, 2020
In September 2019, Detective Chris Panetta, 42, and his wife, Probation officer Michelle Panetta, 34, created Beyond the Badge NY, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating the stigma associated with mental health struggles in the law enforcement community, and combating the rise of suicides in the ranks. That month, they hosted a charity softball game in Baldwin Park in honor of those who had died, their families and officers who felt as if life had dealt them an 0-2 count.
The event last year drew a few dozen players and spectators combined, including two teams comprised of a mix of active police officers and law enforcement supporters.
On Sept. 26, Beyond the Badge NY returned to Baldwin Park for its second annual Strikeout Suicide charity softball game, and this time there was a crowd of several hundred, with four teams drawn from the ranks of the Nassau and Suffolk County Police Departments, the NYPD and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police, playing on adjacent fields — 60 officers in total.
This year the event featured merchandise stands, a DJ and food. The opening ceremonies included the Nassau County Police Emerald Society Pipe Band and remarks from Michelle Panetta.
“We realized that there needed to be a change, and change comes with us,” she said. “Change comes with every single one of us. We often tell people, ‘If you need anything, reach out.’ Well, we need to stop reaching out and need to start reaching in.” In January 2019, her husband’s longtime friend Nick Mencaroni, an NYPD officer, died of suicide.
All 60 officers on the field, Michelle continued, were there in support of Beyond the Badge’s cause. She then announced the creation of the Nicholas Mencaroni Memorial Scholarship Fund, to provide financial support to high school seniors entering college.
Then Panetta invited Mila Geraldi and Kristen Clifford to throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Geraldi is the daughter of NYPD officer Mike Geraldi, who died unexpectedly on Sept. 1 of a brain aneurysm while on the job. Clifford is the widow of Nassau officer Steve Clifford, who died by suicide in 2017, at age 35.
“I think the main reason why everybody is here is there’s a big problem in law enforcement,” said Frank Bokrosh, an officer in the NCPD’s 2nd Precinct. “There is a huge stigma attached to suicide and mental health. There are a lot of people that work in this field that are afraid to get help because they’re worried about their careers, what people will think. They’re worried about people assuming they’ll be less of a cop if they do try to get help.”
“This shows that we still come together,” said Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. “There are members [of the police] that lose their life, not just in battles on the street, but the battles they take home. Breaking that stigma — this is what it’s all about.”
In the first two games, the NYPD took on the NCPD, while the Suffolk County police and the Port Authority police faced off on another field. When Ryder led off with a hit, cheers of “Let’s go, Commish!” could be heard from the NCPD dugout.
A couple of minutes later, Ryder crossed home plate, scoring the first run of the day. Over the next few hours, softballs were flying, with some officers showing their power, scorching them deep into the outfield, to loud cheers, while others made flashy plays on defense, drawing more loud cheers.
Afterward, all of the players signed bats and helmets that were given by Beyond the Badge to family members of fallen officers.
“It was nothing short of amazing, truly,” Michelle Panetta said the following day, reflecting on the event. “Sixty officers all there to stop suicide. As much as we’re trying to raise awareness, we want to honor the memory of those we lost too soon, so to have those families in attendance meant even more to all of us.”
Bridget Downes contributed to this story.
The event last year drew a few dozen players and spectators combined, including two teams comprised of a mix of active police officers and law enforcement supporters.
On Sept. 26, Beyond the Badge NY returned to Baldwin Park for its second annual Strikeout Suicide charity softball game, and this time there was a crowd of several hundred, with four teams drawn from the ranks of the Nassau and Suffolk County Police Departments, the NYPD and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police, playing on adjacent fields — 60 officers in total.
This year the event featured merchandise stands, a DJ and food. The opening ceremonies included the Nassau County Police Emerald Society Pipe Band and remarks from Michelle Panetta.
“We realized that there needed to be a change, and change comes with us,” she said. “Change comes with every single one of us. We often tell people, ‘If you need anything, reach out.’ Well, we need to stop reaching out and need to start reaching in.” In January 2019, her husband’s longtime friend Nick Mencaroni, an NYPD officer, died of suicide.
All 60 officers on the field, Michelle continued, were there in support of Beyond the Badge’s cause. She then announced the creation of the Nicholas Mencaroni Memorial Scholarship Fund, to provide financial support to high school seniors entering college.
Then Panetta invited Mila Geraldi and Kristen Clifford to throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Geraldi is the daughter of NYPD officer Mike Geraldi, who died unexpectedly on Sept. 1 of a brain aneurysm while on the job. Clifford is the widow of Nassau officer Steve Clifford, who died by suicide in 2017, at age 35.
“I think the main reason why everybody is here is there’s a big problem in law enforcement,” said Frank Bokrosh, an officer in the NCPD’s 2nd Precinct. “There is a huge stigma attached to suicide and mental health. There are a lot of people that work in this field that are afraid to get help because they’re worried about their careers, what people will think. They’re worried about people assuming they’ll be less of a cop if they do try to get help.”
“This shows that we still come together,” said Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. “There are members [of the police] that lose their life, not just in battles on the street, but the battles they take home. Breaking that stigma — this is what it’s all about.”
In the first two games, the NYPD took on the NCPD, while the Suffolk County police and the Port Authority police faced off on another field. When Ryder led off with a hit, cheers of “Let’s go, Commish!” could be heard from the NCPD dugout.
A couple of minutes later, Ryder crossed home plate, scoring the first run of the day. Over the next few hours, softballs were flying, with some officers showing their power, scorching them deep into the outfield, to loud cheers, while others made flashy plays on defense, drawing more loud cheers.
Afterward, all of the players signed bats and helmets that were given by Beyond the Badge to family members of fallen officers.
“It was nothing short of amazing, truly,” Michelle Panetta said the following day, reflecting on the event. “Sixty officers all there to stop suicide. As much as we’re trying to raise awareness, we want to honor the memory of those we lost too soon, so to have those families in attendance meant even more to all of us.”
Bridget Downes contributed to this story.
Softball benefit for police set for next month Panettas hoping to punch out perceptions
LI Herald
By JD Freda
August 27th 2020
By JD Freda
August 27th 2020
Last September, Chris and Michelle Panetta took on an important task. Chris, 42, a New York City Police detective, and Michelle, 34, a Nassau County probation officer, sought to put an end to police suicide, and to begin breaking down the stigma among law enforcement officials of acknowledging mental health struggles.
Inspired by the raw emotion of losing NYPD Officer Nick Mencaroni, a close friend of Chris’s, to suicide earlier last year, the Seaford pair started the nonprofit Beyond the Badge NY. Their first event was a softball game held last September at Baldwin Harbor Park to raise awareness of their cause. They called it the Strikeout Suicide Charity Softball Game.
The effort was such a success that, just a few months later, the Panettas started planning the second game at the park, scheduled for Sept. 26. September is National Suicide Awareness Month, and Sept. 26 is National Law Enforcement Suicide Awareness Day.
They secured the permit to use the park before the coronavirus pandemic struck. “Under Phase 4 there are very strict guidelines, but the Town [of Hempstead] approved our permits, so once they approved it, we were good to go,” Michelle said. “But I have to follow every guideline set in place.”
“Everyone has to [fill out] a questionnaire,” she said. “Everyone has to get their temperature checked. People will have to wear masks. They might not be happy about it, I know, but it is what is. I have disinfectant wipes in the dugout. If they share baseball bats like last year, bats [will be] wiped down after each use. . . . As soon as you walk in, there are going to be markings for when you walk to get food. The food is all individually wrapped.”
Beyond the Badge NY had been brainstorming ways to follow up on last year’s successful debut, and this year’s Strikeout Suicide Charity Game will be twice as big. Last year there were roughly 30 players, and this year there will be about 60. There will be four teams competing in a bracket-style tournament, instead of just two teams playing a single game. They will have the use of two fields. And the Panettas have booked double the pre-game ceremonies.
Last year, the two teams were a mix of NYPD officers and civilians, including some spouses of law enforcement officials. This year, the four teams will comprise NYPD officers, Nassau County Police Department officers, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers and Suffolk County Police Department and corrections officers.
“We also added some personal touches,” Michelle said. “Last year we had the Nassau County Pipes and Drums and Ceremonial Unit. … This year we also have someone singing the national anthem, and Kristen Clifford will throw out the first pitch.” Clifford’s husband, Steven, was an NYPD and NCPD officer who took his own life in 2017, at age 35.
When officers arrive at the park, they will walk through an arch made by the Baldwin Fire Department. They will also march past posters of the faces of fallen officers along the entrance trail. One of those faces will be Mencaroni’s, which Michelle Panetta admitted would be hard for her and Chris.
“It’s hard to be a cop right now,” she said. “Whether you’re a cop, a corrections officer, dispatcher, anything in the law enforcement field, it’s extremely difficult.”
“For us, I think we’re all starting to feel the effects of Covid-19 recently,” she added. “For the past four months, we’ve been working long, crazy hours. When things start to slow down, you feel the effects.”
Making connections with officers while they still have the ability to improve their frame of mind is Beyond the Badge NY’s primary concern. The Panettas want law enforcement officials to understand that anyone can feel hopeless in a tough situation, but they do not have to go through it alone.
“Recently, there was an NYPD suicide, and we reached out to the cop’s partner,” Michelle recounted. “I said who I was and that ‘I just want to see how you’re doing.’ He was so appreciative. He said it was nice to have another officer reach out. Yes, we want to raise awareness, but in order to raise that awareness level, you have to understand it. We need everyone in the job to come together.”
Town of Hempstead Hometown Heroes award presentation
June 27th, 2020
Councilman Chris Carini
Photo Courtesy of TOH Photographer
Councilman Chris Carini
Photo Courtesy of TOH Photographer
On behalf of Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin and the Town Board, I presented Michelle and Christopher Panetta with a Town of Hempstead#Hometownhero award. I was joined Hempstead Town Clerk Kate Murray, Councilman Anthony D'Esposito and Councilman Dennis Dunne, Sr.presenting the citation to Chris and Michelle. Chris and Michelle started Beyond The Badge NY, a non profit that raises suicide and mental health awareness within the law enforcement community. During the pandemic Beyond the Badge NY raised money for first responders to deliver meals for those working on the front lines. Thank you to Chris and Michelle for being hometown heroes!
First responders take extra precaution to not contract coronavirus
April 1, 2020 News 12
Being a first responder is already a job filled with potential danger but as more people get sick with coronavirus, they are worrying they will contract the virus on the job.
Michelle Panetta is a Nassau probation officer who runs the law enforcement support organization Beyond the Badge New York. The nonprofit raises awareness for suicide and mental health within law enforcement. "It gets hard. The more people that get sick, it becomes a strain to us. It becomes longer hours, rotating shifts, you might have to go to a different command that you're not normally stationed at," Panetta said. To try to ease the mental stress during this pandemic, the Panettas teamed up with Yoga Shack and Fitness 19 in Malverne to offer free online classes for law enforcement.
April 1, 2020 News 12
Being a first responder is already a job filled with potential danger but as more people get sick with coronavirus, they are worrying they will contract the virus on the job.
Michelle Panetta is a Nassau probation officer who runs the law enforcement support organization Beyond the Badge New York. The nonprofit raises awareness for suicide and mental health within law enforcement. "It gets hard. The more people that get sick, it becomes a strain to us. It becomes longer hours, rotating shifts, you might have to go to a different command that you're not normally stationed at," Panetta said. To try to ease the mental stress during this pandemic, the Panettas teamed up with Yoga Shack and Fitness 19 in Malverne to offer free online classes for law enforcement.
Locked out of gyms, first responders turn to yoga
Beyond The Badge Charity offers Free Virtual Sessions
LI Herald
April 1, 2020 by JD Freda
Typically, Beyond the Badge focuses on the mental health of law enforcement officers. Now, Michelle Panetta says she and husband Chris, the charity's co-founders, see the bigger picture and a dire need to help a wider array of responders – and not just mentally. “A lot of first responders rely on fitness. If we have a bad day, we can get a hard workout in at the gym to get stress out,” Michelle said. “Once the gyms closed, I asked, what ways can we still destress?”
Panetta, a probation officer, mentioned that her office does not have a gym. She said many precincts, firehouses and law enforcement offices do, but she is not sure whether they are open. She also thinks that many are hesitant to use public, shared equipment. So, Panetta wanted to create an opportunity for first responders to destress while keeping their bodies healthy. “We wound up posting something about fitness, and then the Yoga Shack wrote to me saying they’d like to work with me,” Panetta said. She connected with the Yoga Shack, in Bethpage, and owners Michelle DeNicola-Turano and Cindy Mussman-Valentine, to offer free virtual guided meditation and yoga courses to first responders. The courses run roughly four weeks and throughout the month of April.
Panetta is also working with Suzanne Kraemer and Ada Coonerty of Fitness 19 in Malverne to provide online exercise classes on Fridays and Saturdays, offering abdominal strengthening, cardio and Zumba. Panetta said that physical activity is a fantastic "destressor [and] preserves your mental health.” She doubled down, saying that being static can bring on anxiety. “Everybody is starting to get that unsettling feeling,” Panetta said. “That anxiety feeling of ‘could it be me? Do I have symptoms? Do I have no symptoms but am spreading it?’” Panetta has already seen her latest idea put into action. She gets updates from the Yoga Shack or Fitness 19 whenever a new member signs up for the program. She even sent the offer directly to the Nassau County Police Department health and wellness department. Panetta said she hopes they send it to their dispatch team, whom she believes are a group of unsung heroes that rarely get recognition.
Beyond the Badge has grown steadily since its inception late last year, and more law enforcement officers are taking notice. When asked if Panetta would quit her job to take on the full responsibility of demanding nonprofit, she was not sure, but she did offer this: “I don’t know if I would stop my career, I’ve never been asked that. But I think the beauty of the situation is that we’re active. We’re working the same type of job and going through the same things as the people we aim to help.”
All information for the free exercise classes can be found on https://www.facebook.com/BeyondTheBadgeNY/.
Beyond The Badge Charity offers Free Virtual Sessions
LI Herald
April 1, 2020 by JD Freda
Typically, Beyond the Badge focuses on the mental health of law enforcement officers. Now, Michelle Panetta says she and husband Chris, the charity's co-founders, see the bigger picture and a dire need to help a wider array of responders – and not just mentally. “A lot of first responders rely on fitness. If we have a bad day, we can get a hard workout in at the gym to get stress out,” Michelle said. “Once the gyms closed, I asked, what ways can we still destress?”
Panetta, a probation officer, mentioned that her office does not have a gym. She said many precincts, firehouses and law enforcement offices do, but she is not sure whether they are open. She also thinks that many are hesitant to use public, shared equipment. So, Panetta wanted to create an opportunity for first responders to destress while keeping their bodies healthy. “We wound up posting something about fitness, and then the Yoga Shack wrote to me saying they’d like to work with me,” Panetta said. She connected with the Yoga Shack, in Bethpage, and owners Michelle DeNicola-Turano and Cindy Mussman-Valentine, to offer free virtual guided meditation and yoga courses to first responders. The courses run roughly four weeks and throughout the month of April.
Panetta is also working with Suzanne Kraemer and Ada Coonerty of Fitness 19 in Malverne to provide online exercise classes on Fridays and Saturdays, offering abdominal strengthening, cardio and Zumba. Panetta said that physical activity is a fantastic "destressor [and] preserves your mental health.” She doubled down, saying that being static can bring on anxiety. “Everybody is starting to get that unsettling feeling,” Panetta said. “That anxiety feeling of ‘could it be me? Do I have symptoms? Do I have no symptoms but am spreading it?’” Panetta has already seen her latest idea put into action. She gets updates from the Yoga Shack or Fitness 19 whenever a new member signs up for the program. She even sent the offer directly to the Nassau County Police Department health and wellness department. Panetta said she hopes they send it to their dispatch team, whom she believes are a group of unsung heroes that rarely get recognition.
Beyond the Badge has grown steadily since its inception late last year, and more law enforcement officers are taking notice. When asked if Panetta would quit her job to take on the full responsibility of demanding nonprofit, she was not sure, but she did offer this: “I don’t know if I would stop my career, I’ve never been asked that. But I think the beauty of the situation is that we’re active. We’re working the same type of job and going through the same things as the people we aim to help.”
All information for the free exercise classes can be found on https://www.facebook.com/BeyondTheBadgeNY/.
Cops’ counsel: ‘Let someone hear you’
LI Herald
March 5, 2020 by JD Freda
On Feb. 20, New York City lost its second active or former law enforcement officer in four days. Recently retired New York Police Department Officer Danny Shirreffs, 46, died of an apparent suicide at home in Seaford just days after active NYPD Detective Paul Federico ended his own life while off duty in Queens. Last year, 228 police officers died by suicide in the United States — one hundred more than were killed in the line of duty, according to Blue HELP and the Caruth Police Institute.
In 2017, veteran California Highway Patrol Officer Andy O’Hara wrote a sobering article for the Marshall Project on the trends he has seen in police suicide statistics. “More officers die of suicide than die of shootings and traffic accidents combined,” O’Hara wrote. “It’s a problem that cries out for answers and remedies.”
Seaford’s Christopher and Michelle Panetta, a husband and wife who are both law enforcement officers, are taking a stand and looking to help. In January last year, Chris’s longtime friend and fellow NYPD police officer, Nick Mencaroni, 40, died by suicide. Later that year, Chris, an NYPD detective, and Michelle, a probation officer, formed Beyond the Badge, a nonprofit to promote mental health awareness among their fellow officers.
Although the Panettas lived in the same community as Shirreffs, they did not know him, but they were upset when they heard the news. “I was at work when I heard what happened,” Chris said. “It was disheartening and disappointing to hear.”
According to a report by Bluehelp.org last year, there were 578 suicides by law enforcement officers in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2016, to June 31, 2019. In New York, they account for more than 9 percent of the state’s total suicides — the second-highest percentage in the country, after California, where the number is just over 9.5 percent. The report stressed that these are only the cases that have been reported. The number is thought to be higher.
“So many people think that law enforcement is just fighting crime,” Michelle said. “It’s not just about that. Anything can happen. You can pull up to the scene of an accident and see a child hurt, or deceased, and that can stay with you.”
The Panettas stress that police officers need to break a longstanding stigma against discussing mental health issues before they can open up. They said officers can develop a variety of mental health problems because of “post-traumatic stress injury.” According to posttraumaticstressinjury.org, the term “post-traumatic stress disorder,” coined some four decades ago, leads to a stigma that those suffering from it have trouble getting past. Chris said he preferred PTSI when referring to officers who have reached out to Beyond the Badge.
Town of Hempstead Councilman Christopher Carini, a former NYPD and Port Authority police officer, said the stigma law enforcement officers face is real. “Police suicide is something that has affected cops for years,” Carini said. “In the last couple years, it has been a big factor. Back when I started on the force, there weren’t too many organizations to help with this. Back then, the stigma was you’d be taken off the line, lose your job and take your gun,” he said.
The Panettas said that as they went through the police academy, mental health training was not a major focus. During Chris’s cadetship in 2000, a veteran officer at the academy shot himself in the neck in a room just offstage in an auditorium where about 200 cadets had gathered.
Carini said he was nearing the end of his active police career, departments hired stress counselors. “Cop to cop, they were able to start coming forward,” Carini said. “It didn’t have to be job-related. It could have been about a variety of things.”
He was not shocked police officers have a higher rate of divorce, alcoholism and suicide than the general public, he said. He also said officers prefer to be seen by an outside mental health provider or advocate than by one within the police department.
Enter Beyond the Badge. Chris said a number of law enforcement officers and their family members are reaching out to him. Last week, he said, he was on the phone with the widow of a law enforcement officer for several hours.
“You just have to let them talk,” Chris said. “Every situation is unique, and you have to empathize. I’m available to them at any time of the day.”
Michelle said the financial strain from medical payments and co-payments could stress law enforcement officers. She said staying physically active is key to being healthy mentally. She is in talks to offer free yoga sessions to law enforcement members at local yoga studios and karate dojos.
Chris noted other initiatives, including a car show fundraiser in Lido Beach, a paint-night fundraiser and the second-annual softball game fundraiser. He is also in discussions with Molloy College, his alma mater, to host seminars with guest speakers from Blue H.E.L.P. and the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program.
“I don’t think you owe it to anybody but yourself,” Chris said. “For all the things you’ve done to help other people, it’s time to help yourself. You only have one life to live. Let someone hear you.”
LI Herald
March 5, 2020 by JD Freda
On Feb. 20, New York City lost its second active or former law enforcement officer in four days. Recently retired New York Police Department Officer Danny Shirreffs, 46, died of an apparent suicide at home in Seaford just days after active NYPD Detective Paul Federico ended his own life while off duty in Queens. Last year, 228 police officers died by suicide in the United States — one hundred more than were killed in the line of duty, according to Blue HELP and the Caruth Police Institute.
In 2017, veteran California Highway Patrol Officer Andy O’Hara wrote a sobering article for the Marshall Project on the trends he has seen in police suicide statistics. “More officers die of suicide than die of shootings and traffic accidents combined,” O’Hara wrote. “It’s a problem that cries out for answers and remedies.”
Seaford’s Christopher and Michelle Panetta, a husband and wife who are both law enforcement officers, are taking a stand and looking to help. In January last year, Chris’s longtime friend and fellow NYPD police officer, Nick Mencaroni, 40, died by suicide. Later that year, Chris, an NYPD detective, and Michelle, a probation officer, formed Beyond the Badge, a nonprofit to promote mental health awareness among their fellow officers.
Although the Panettas lived in the same community as Shirreffs, they did not know him, but they were upset when they heard the news. “I was at work when I heard what happened,” Chris said. “It was disheartening and disappointing to hear.”
According to a report by Bluehelp.org last year, there were 578 suicides by law enforcement officers in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2016, to June 31, 2019. In New York, they account for more than 9 percent of the state’s total suicides — the second-highest percentage in the country, after California, where the number is just over 9.5 percent. The report stressed that these are only the cases that have been reported. The number is thought to be higher.
“So many people think that law enforcement is just fighting crime,” Michelle said. “It’s not just about that. Anything can happen. You can pull up to the scene of an accident and see a child hurt, or deceased, and that can stay with you.”
The Panettas stress that police officers need to break a longstanding stigma against discussing mental health issues before they can open up. They said officers can develop a variety of mental health problems because of “post-traumatic stress injury.” According to posttraumaticstressinjury.org, the term “post-traumatic stress disorder,” coined some four decades ago, leads to a stigma that those suffering from it have trouble getting past. Chris said he preferred PTSI when referring to officers who have reached out to Beyond the Badge.
Town of Hempstead Councilman Christopher Carini, a former NYPD and Port Authority police officer, said the stigma law enforcement officers face is real. “Police suicide is something that has affected cops for years,” Carini said. “In the last couple years, it has been a big factor. Back when I started on the force, there weren’t too many organizations to help with this. Back then, the stigma was you’d be taken off the line, lose your job and take your gun,” he said.
The Panettas said that as they went through the police academy, mental health training was not a major focus. During Chris’s cadetship in 2000, a veteran officer at the academy shot himself in the neck in a room just offstage in an auditorium where about 200 cadets had gathered.
Carini said he was nearing the end of his active police career, departments hired stress counselors. “Cop to cop, they were able to start coming forward,” Carini said. “It didn’t have to be job-related. It could have been about a variety of things.”
He was not shocked police officers have a higher rate of divorce, alcoholism and suicide than the general public, he said. He also said officers prefer to be seen by an outside mental health provider or advocate than by one within the police department.
Enter Beyond the Badge. Chris said a number of law enforcement officers and their family members are reaching out to him. Last week, he said, he was on the phone with the widow of a law enforcement officer for several hours.
“You just have to let them talk,” Chris said. “Every situation is unique, and you have to empathize. I’m available to them at any time of the day.”
Michelle said the financial strain from medical payments and co-payments could stress law enforcement officers. She said staying physically active is key to being healthy mentally. She is in talks to offer free yoga sessions to law enforcement members at local yoga studios and karate dojos.
Chris noted other initiatives, including a car show fundraiser in Lido Beach, a paint-night fundraiser and the second-annual softball game fundraiser. He is also in discussions with Molloy College, his alma mater, to host seminars with guest speakers from Blue H.E.L.P. and the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program.
“I don’t think you owe it to anybody but yourself,” Chris said. “For all the things you’ve done to help other people, it’s time to help yourself. You only have one life to live. Let someone hear you.”
Local students are making Christmas cards for Nassau County police officers
CBS News, News 12, Fox 5
December 12th, 2019
Beyond The Badge NY, created the Cards for Cops project after many community members asked how they and their children could let officers know that they care about them after a string of Suicides have hit the law enforcement community this past year. Mental Health is not an easy topic for children to process, however we felt it was important to promote gratitude, support, love and kindness. We felt the small gesture towards the officers would go along way in helping renew their spirits this holiday season, as well as teaching important attributes to school aged children. we want children to know that officers are their to help them whenever they need & that as much as they love them, the officers care and love them right back. We do this job because of these smiling faces. Beyond The Badge NY had the honor to team up with Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder and numerous NCPD officers to thank one town whose support has been nothing short of amazing. Plainedge District in N. Massapequa, lost one of there own to a line of duty incident a few years back, and they truly bleed blue. Charles E. Schwarting Elementary, along with Plainedge MS, Massapequa HS and numerous Girl Scout troops from Plainedge, N. Massapequa and Massapequa created over 700 cards for the officers of the NYPD and NCPD. Many of the students in the area are children of officers and their excitement to see them at their school, well was nothing short of amazing!
Thank you to CBS News for catching the excitement of these children and showing the officers enjoying every minute of it.
CBS News, News 12, Fox 5
December 12th, 2019
Beyond The Badge NY, created the Cards for Cops project after many community members asked how they and their children could let officers know that they care about them after a string of Suicides have hit the law enforcement community this past year. Mental Health is not an easy topic for children to process, however we felt it was important to promote gratitude, support, love and kindness. We felt the small gesture towards the officers would go along way in helping renew their spirits this holiday season, as well as teaching important attributes to school aged children. we want children to know that officers are their to help them whenever they need & that as much as they love them, the officers care and love them right back. We do this job because of these smiling faces. Beyond The Badge NY had the honor to team up with Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder and numerous NCPD officers to thank one town whose support has been nothing short of amazing. Plainedge District in N. Massapequa, lost one of there own to a line of duty incident a few years back, and they truly bleed blue. Charles E. Schwarting Elementary, along with Plainedge MS, Massapequa HS and numerous Girl Scout troops from Plainedge, N. Massapequa and Massapequa created over 700 cards for the officers of the NYPD and NCPD. Many of the students in the area are children of officers and their excitement to see them at their school, well was nothing short of amazing!
Thank you to CBS News for catching the excitement of these children and showing the officers enjoying every minute of it.
Couple take on police suicides
Beyond the Badge aims to help law enforcement officers
LI Herald Posted December 18th, 2019
By. JD Freda
Chris Panetta, 42, rummaged around a closet in his home earlier this year. In it, Panetta, a New York City police officer for 19 years, found the cards made for him by elementary-school students after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when he was stationed in downtown Manhattan. “My 7-year-old niece actually made [Chris] a card one day, and I saw how excited he was to get the card,” said Chris’s wife, Michelle, 33, a Nassau County probation officer. “A day or so later, he was in the closet looking for something when he said, ‘Oh! I found the cards. I still have them!’”
Michelle saw an opportunity. “These cards obviously mean something to him if he’s kept them for 18 years,” she said. “So I asked, ‘Why don’t we do Cards for Cops?’”
The Panetta's started Cards for Cops in November, with the goal of collecting handmade cards from elementary and high school students thanking police for their dedication to community safety and hand-delivering them to police precincts in New York City; Jersey City; a number of villages in Nassau County and the Nassau County Police Department — as well as several precincts in Florida and Texas.
At press time, Cards for Cops had collected 6,045 cards made by students ranging from kindergartners to high school seniors. In addition to Long Island, cards have been mailed in from schools in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, upstate New York and even Pennsylvania.
“I would expect there to be about 6,500 cards by the time we get the last shipment,” Michelle Panetta said.
The inspiration for Cards for Cops was a simple conversation between the Panettas, who are trying to direct the public’s attention to a much more serious topic. “Just this year, I saw a statistic that there were over 200 law enforcement officers that committed suicide,” Michelle said.
“People are scared to talk about it,” Chris added, “but it needs to be spoken about. More people have to know that it’s OK to not be OK.”
According to a report by Bluehelp.org, there were 578 suicides by law enforcement officers in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2016, to June 31, 2019. In New York state, they make up more than 9 percent of the state’s total suicides — the second-highest percentage in the country, after California, where the number is just over 9.5 percent. The report stressed that these are only the incidents that have been reported, and that the actual number is thought to be higher.
“There has to be a continuing conversation,” Chris Panetta said. “The only acceptable number is zero.”
Panetta, now an NYPD detective, offered some insight into why suicide is so prevalent in the police community. Officers are put in stressful situations time and time again, he said, and often interact with people when “they’re at their worst.” When people are scared, injured, dying, enraged, violent or suicidal, he said, officers have to be there to intervene, and are forced to make decisions with “high stakes.” He added that because is often the norm for on-duty officers, they may be on edge when answering almost any call.
He also emphasized that police officers tend not to speak up when they are dealing with mental health symptoms because
of an unwritten, unspoken stigma. Instead, they internalize their struggles, which can lead to gradual mental health deterioration.
In January, Chris Panetta’s longtime friend Nick Mencaroni, 40, a fellow NYPD officer, died by suicide. In September, the Panettas started a foundation called Beyond the Badge to promote mental health awareness among their law enforcement brothers and sisters. On Oct. 10, Beyond the Badge hosted the inaugural Strike Out Suicide charity softball game for law enforcement at Baldwin Harbor Park, which drew several dozen participants. “It wasn’t supposed to be as big as it was,” Michelle said. “We just wanted people to come out and have fun while supporting the cause.”
Michelle Panetta is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Nassau Community College. “They wanted to know more about the mental health side of it,” she said of her students, “and this past semester, I taught them [to pay] attention to mindfulness. I feel like a lot of courses focus on what to do when you’re at the job, and not so much about how to deal with the effects of that job when you leave to go home.”
Chris, who has a master’s degree in criminal justice from Molloy College in Rockville Centre, is looking into pursuing a second postgraduate degree in clinical mental health counseling. “I really just want to be someone that people from the law enforcement community can feel like they can come and talk to,” he said. “Sometimes people just need someone else to listen and to empathize with them.”
The next step for Beyond the Badge is to expand — ideally across the country, eventually, but for now the Panettas want to bring about changes locally, by hosting events such as a car show next spring, and offering scholarships to prospective criminal justice students.
“This isn’t about us,” Chris said. “. . . This isn’t about recognition. I don’t care if people know my name, I care if people know the cause.
Beyond the Badge aims to help law enforcement officers
LI Herald Posted December 18th, 2019
By. JD Freda
Chris Panetta, 42, rummaged around a closet in his home earlier this year. In it, Panetta, a New York City police officer for 19 years, found the cards made for him by elementary-school students after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when he was stationed in downtown Manhattan. “My 7-year-old niece actually made [Chris] a card one day, and I saw how excited he was to get the card,” said Chris’s wife, Michelle, 33, a Nassau County probation officer. “A day or so later, he was in the closet looking for something when he said, ‘Oh! I found the cards. I still have them!’”
Michelle saw an opportunity. “These cards obviously mean something to him if he’s kept them for 18 years,” she said. “So I asked, ‘Why don’t we do Cards for Cops?’”
The Panetta's started Cards for Cops in November, with the goal of collecting handmade cards from elementary and high school students thanking police for their dedication to community safety and hand-delivering them to police precincts in New York City; Jersey City; a number of villages in Nassau County and the Nassau County Police Department — as well as several precincts in Florida and Texas.
At press time, Cards for Cops had collected 6,045 cards made by students ranging from kindergartners to high school seniors. In addition to Long Island, cards have been mailed in from schools in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, upstate New York and even Pennsylvania.
“I would expect there to be about 6,500 cards by the time we get the last shipment,” Michelle Panetta said.
The inspiration for Cards for Cops was a simple conversation between the Panettas, who are trying to direct the public’s attention to a much more serious topic. “Just this year, I saw a statistic that there were over 200 law enforcement officers that committed suicide,” Michelle said.
“People are scared to talk about it,” Chris added, “but it needs to be spoken about. More people have to know that it’s OK to not be OK.”
According to a report by Bluehelp.org, there were 578 suicides by law enforcement officers in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2016, to June 31, 2019. In New York state, they make up more than 9 percent of the state’s total suicides — the second-highest percentage in the country, after California, where the number is just over 9.5 percent. The report stressed that these are only the incidents that have been reported, and that the actual number is thought to be higher.
“There has to be a continuing conversation,” Chris Panetta said. “The only acceptable number is zero.”
Panetta, now an NYPD detective, offered some insight into why suicide is so prevalent in the police community. Officers are put in stressful situations time and time again, he said, and often interact with people when “they’re at their worst.” When people are scared, injured, dying, enraged, violent or suicidal, he said, officers have to be there to intervene, and are forced to make decisions with “high stakes.” He added that because is often the norm for on-duty officers, they may be on edge when answering almost any call.
He also emphasized that police officers tend not to speak up when they are dealing with mental health symptoms because
of an unwritten, unspoken stigma. Instead, they internalize their struggles, which can lead to gradual mental health deterioration.
In January, Chris Panetta’s longtime friend Nick Mencaroni, 40, a fellow NYPD officer, died by suicide. In September, the Panettas started a foundation called Beyond the Badge to promote mental health awareness among their law enforcement brothers and sisters. On Oct. 10, Beyond the Badge hosted the inaugural Strike Out Suicide charity softball game for law enforcement at Baldwin Harbor Park, which drew several dozen participants. “It wasn’t supposed to be as big as it was,” Michelle said. “We just wanted people to come out and have fun while supporting the cause.”
Michelle Panetta is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Nassau Community College. “They wanted to know more about the mental health side of it,” she said of her students, “and this past semester, I taught them [to pay] attention to mindfulness. I feel like a lot of courses focus on what to do when you’re at the job, and not so much about how to deal with the effects of that job when you leave to go home.”
Chris, who has a master’s degree in criminal justice from Molloy College in Rockville Centre, is looking into pursuing a second postgraduate degree in clinical mental health counseling. “I really just want to be someone that people from the law enforcement community can feel like they can come and talk to,” he said. “Sometimes people just need someone else to listen and to empathize with them.”
The next step for Beyond the Badge is to expand — ideally across the country, eventually, but for now the Panettas want to bring about changes locally, by hosting events such as a car show next spring, and offering scholarships to prospective criminal justice students.
“This isn’t about us,” Chris said. “. . . This isn’t about recognition. I don’t care if people know my name, I care if people know the cause.
Going to bat for officers in crisis
Baldwin Herald Posted October 24, 2019
By Bridget Downes
Beyond the Badge hosts charity softball game in Baldwin to strike out suicide
Dozens of members of law enforcement challenged one another to a charity game of softball on Oct. 19 in Baldwin to raise awareness of suicide and the mental health stigma within the profession.
Beyond the Badge Inc., a nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness of suicide in the law-enforcement community and build positive relations between officers and the public, hosted the game, which organizers said they hoped would become an annual event.
Michelle Panetta, a probation officer who co-founded the group with her husband, Chris, a New York City police detective, began organizing the Strikeout Suicide Charity Softball Game, at Baldwin Harbor Park, about a month and a half ago. Earlier this year, Chris’s childhood friend and fellow NYPD officer, Nick Mencaroni, died by suicide.
“It’s hard for regular people to turn around and say I’m suffering from anxiety, I’m suffering from depression or I have a lot going on, I’m not OK. But when you’re in law enforcement, it’s even harder,” Michelle Panetta said. “We’re supposed to be strong all the time, and we’re supposed to protect the public and everybody else, but people forget that behind our badge, we’re still somebody’s kids. I’m still somebody’s daughter, somebody’s wife and aunt, and everything else, so I still have to be OK at home, but I have to be OK at work, too.”
Officers from the NYPD and the Nassau and Suffolk County police departments came out to support the cause. Money raised will benefit Beyond the Badge and Blue HELP, an organization committed to reducing the stigma around mental health issues in the law enforcement community.
“Suicide’s on the rise when it comes to law enforcement,” NCPD Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at the game, “and people need to remember that we’re dads, we’re moms, we’re family members, brothers and sisters, but more importantly, when we leave work, we’ve got other pressures at home, and then we come back from those pressures and go back to work and you deal with everybody else’s problems, so it’s a stressful job. We want to keep the message out there that’s it’s OK, we got you, we got your backs, we’ll support you, and remove that stigma.”
“At our wedding [in January], everything was great, he seemed fine,” Panetta said of Mencaroni. “We came home from our honeymoon two weeks later, he committed suicide. He was the first NYPD officer to commit suicide this year. When it’s close to your heart like that and you don’t realize what’s happening, it’s rough. We knew we had to do something.”
Then, as more officers died by suicide as the year went on, the Panettas decided to make a change.
“We said, you know what, the change is going to be us,” Michelle said. “The change is going to be fellow officers. It’s going to be us asking our partners, ‘Are you good?’ It’s not going to be anything else. It’s up to us to make the change amongst ourselves.”
This year, 10 NYPD officers have taken their own lives. The number of police suicides in 2019 is the highest in at least a decade, according to The New York Times, underscoring the NYPD’s ongoing struggles to persuade officers that they should seek treatment if they are experiencing mental health issues. More officers commit suicide each year in New York City than are killed in the line of duty. Since 2014, an average of five NYPD officers have died each year by suicide.
“Suicide is a tragic thing when it happens, but we can stop it, we can prevent it,” Ryder said. “We’ve just got to get the message out there and communicate with each other.”
Panetta said she knew she had to act to slow the epidemic, referring to the law enforcement community as a family in which no one has to fight alone.
“Everyone always says you try to deal with what you have to deal with at work and it stays there. Well, that’s impossible,” Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective, said. “Suicides are on the rise throughout not only the nation, but obviously here in New York, and an opportunity like this for everyone to get together, raise awareness, raise some funds is important, because cops, although we try to do our best to put on that superhero cape and say that everything is great, sometimes things aren’t great. And to have an outlet to say we need to talk about this, or I need a hand, or I need a shoulder to cry on, people need to know that it’s there and it’s available.”
Panetta said she wanted to coordinate a day for officers not to worry about work, let loose and have fun while meeting fellow police officers, making new friends and fostering relationships.
“Ten suicides — it’s a red flag,” said Mike Geraldi of the NYPD. “It’s not good what’s going on. I’ve got 15 years on the job in the city and it pains me. I feel very sad for the families, and I can’t put my finger on it. Hopefully this brings awareness, and it’s all about community, keeping us together, staying positive, so there should be a lot more events like this. Personally, it’s great to be out on the field with my fellow coworkers. I love it — we’re like a family.”
He was meeting most of the other officers for the first time, despite an air of companionship on the field.
“When we get on the field, it’s like we’ve known each other for years,” Geraldi said. “We’re all blue brothers and blue sisters.”
Panetta also said the event was intended to foster relations between police and the public. “If you have a positive relationship with the community, it does make it easier when you go out there and do your job,” she said. “So not only are we raising mental health awareness and suicide awareness, but we want to promote that positive relationship between law enforcement and the community, as well.”
Charity softball game raises awareness of law enforcement suicide
News12 Posted: Oct 19, 2019
Baldwin Herald Posted October 24, 2019
By Bridget Downes
Beyond the Badge hosts charity softball game in Baldwin to strike out suicide
Dozens of members of law enforcement challenged one another to a charity game of softball on Oct. 19 in Baldwin to raise awareness of suicide and the mental health stigma within the profession.
Beyond the Badge Inc., a nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness of suicide in the law-enforcement community and build positive relations between officers and the public, hosted the game, which organizers said they hoped would become an annual event.
Michelle Panetta, a probation officer who co-founded the group with her husband, Chris, a New York City police detective, began organizing the Strikeout Suicide Charity Softball Game, at Baldwin Harbor Park, about a month and a half ago. Earlier this year, Chris’s childhood friend and fellow NYPD officer, Nick Mencaroni, died by suicide.
“It’s hard for regular people to turn around and say I’m suffering from anxiety, I’m suffering from depression or I have a lot going on, I’m not OK. But when you’re in law enforcement, it’s even harder,” Michelle Panetta said. “We’re supposed to be strong all the time, and we’re supposed to protect the public and everybody else, but people forget that behind our badge, we’re still somebody’s kids. I’m still somebody’s daughter, somebody’s wife and aunt, and everything else, so I still have to be OK at home, but I have to be OK at work, too.”
Officers from the NYPD and the Nassau and Suffolk County police departments came out to support the cause. Money raised will benefit Beyond the Badge and Blue HELP, an organization committed to reducing the stigma around mental health issues in the law enforcement community.
“Suicide’s on the rise when it comes to law enforcement,” NCPD Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at the game, “and people need to remember that we’re dads, we’re moms, we’re family members, brothers and sisters, but more importantly, when we leave work, we’ve got other pressures at home, and then we come back from those pressures and go back to work and you deal with everybody else’s problems, so it’s a stressful job. We want to keep the message out there that’s it’s OK, we got you, we got your backs, we’ll support you, and remove that stigma.”
“At our wedding [in January], everything was great, he seemed fine,” Panetta said of Mencaroni. “We came home from our honeymoon two weeks later, he committed suicide. He was the first NYPD officer to commit suicide this year. When it’s close to your heart like that and you don’t realize what’s happening, it’s rough. We knew we had to do something.”
Then, as more officers died by suicide as the year went on, the Panettas decided to make a change.
“We said, you know what, the change is going to be us,” Michelle said. “The change is going to be fellow officers. It’s going to be us asking our partners, ‘Are you good?’ It’s not going to be anything else. It’s up to us to make the change amongst ourselves.”
This year, 10 NYPD officers have taken their own lives. The number of police suicides in 2019 is the highest in at least a decade, according to The New York Times, underscoring the NYPD’s ongoing struggles to persuade officers that they should seek treatment if they are experiencing mental health issues. More officers commit suicide each year in New York City than are killed in the line of duty. Since 2014, an average of five NYPD officers have died each year by suicide.
“Suicide is a tragic thing when it happens, but we can stop it, we can prevent it,” Ryder said. “We’ve just got to get the message out there and communicate with each other.”
Panetta said she knew she had to act to slow the epidemic, referring to the law enforcement community as a family in which no one has to fight alone.
“Everyone always says you try to deal with what you have to deal with at work and it stays there. Well, that’s impossible,” Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective, said. “Suicides are on the rise throughout not only the nation, but obviously here in New York, and an opportunity like this for everyone to get together, raise awareness, raise some funds is important, because cops, although we try to do our best to put on that superhero cape and say that everything is great, sometimes things aren’t great. And to have an outlet to say we need to talk about this, or I need a hand, or I need a shoulder to cry on, people need to know that it’s there and it’s available.”
Panetta said she wanted to coordinate a day for officers not to worry about work, let loose and have fun while meeting fellow police officers, making new friends and fostering relationships.
“Ten suicides — it’s a red flag,” said Mike Geraldi of the NYPD. “It’s not good what’s going on. I’ve got 15 years on the job in the city and it pains me. I feel very sad for the families, and I can’t put my finger on it. Hopefully this brings awareness, and it’s all about community, keeping us together, staying positive, so there should be a lot more events like this. Personally, it’s great to be out on the field with my fellow coworkers. I love it — we’re like a family.”
He was meeting most of the other officers for the first time, despite an air of companionship on the field.
“When we get on the field, it’s like we’ve known each other for years,” Geraldi said. “We’re all blue brothers and blue sisters.”
Panetta also said the event was intended to foster relations between police and the public. “If you have a positive relationship with the community, it does make it easier when you go out there and do your job,” she said. “So not only are we raising mental health awareness and suicide awareness, but we want to promote that positive relationship between law enforcement and the community, as well.”
Charity softball game raises awareness of law enforcement suicide
News12 Posted: Oct 19, 2019
Members of the law enforcement community hit the baseball diamond on Saturday to raise funds and awareness for an issue that has hit close to home.
Men and women in blue took to the field at Baldwin Harbor Park for a "Strike Out Suicide" charity softball game. Each officer on the field was playing in honor of a colleague who died by suicide. It offered a chance to put the stresses of the job aside while having a good time, knowing they're not alone.
"We got their back, we're here to support you. If you're feeling that way or you know someone feeling that way, reach out," says Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
Suicide among police officers is on the rise both locally and across the country. Officers say the stress of the job and challenges are sometimes too much to bear. The NYPD and Nassau police lost 11 officers combined this year to suicide.
It hit home for Nassau County Probation Officer Michelle Panetta and her NYPD husband. Their friend and colleague Nick Mencaroni, an officer in Queens, died by suicide in January. They decided to start a nonprofit called Beyond the Badge to help other officers who feel helpless.
"When you see something like that happen, it leaves you speechless in itself, and then when you lose nine, 10, 11 more -- after that you start to realize you have to get out there and do something," says Panetta.
"We need to break the stigma and change the culture and start the conversation and start talking about the elephant in the room -- suicide," says Tommy Shevlin, with the Nassau County Police Department Employee Assistance Office. "We have to be OK with asking each other if we're OK."
Money raised at Saturday's event will go to Beyond the Badge, Blue Help and Blue Lives Matter.
Cop couple’s charity aims to prevent suicide
By Tina Moore
NY Post-October 16, 2019 | 10:22pm
They’re looking out for their brothers and sisters in blue.
An NYPD detective and his wife have started a suicide prevention nonprofit to honor the memory of their friend Nick Mencaroni, the Queens cop whose January suicide was the first to rock the department this year.
Detective Chris Panetta and wife Michelle, a Nassau County probation officer, have founded the Beyond the Badge nonprofit to help fight the scourge and pay tribute to Mencaroni, a childhood friend of Chris’.
“I knew Nick since junior high, before we were ever cops,” said Chris Panetta, 42. “He had stress just like everyone else. He was working through it.”
Mencaroni was there when the Panettas wed on Jan. 5, but before the month was over, he was gone.
“I’ve never heard Chris sound like that,” Michelle Panetta, 33, told The Post of the call she got from her husband when Mencaroni, 40, ended his life on Jan. 25.
As the toll mounted, the couple decided they had to act, so they started the non-profit, which will host a charity softball game called Strike-out Suicide at noon Saturday in Long Island’s Baldwin Harbor Park.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to look out for each other and be willing to help,” said Chris. “This is the new ‘see something, say something.’”
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