SOMETHING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47
neath, the guy was suffering.”
When members of the PBA think of Pablo Santiago, images of
wide grins and thumbs up come to mind. They picture the man
wearing the green Christmas suit at the PBA holiday party. That im-
age doesn’t convey sadness or depression and certainly not some-
one who would take his own life.
The loss of Santiago is another reason to refocus on the impor-
tance of mental wellness as a necessity for all first responders. It
might make members take a closer look at those they work with
to ask the question: who could be wearing a mask of happiness? It
stresses the need for officers to look themselves in the mirror and
be honest about any warning signs that start blinking, however
faintly, in their own heads.
“They need to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable with their
situation,” Burkert instructs. “They need to make the decision to
save their own life or save the people they love from ending it all.”
Pablo’s inspiration
Of all the NJ State PBA members and groups that Santiago had
relationships with, there was no member who knew the Local 187
president more than Papero. The two Local 187 members were the
Holmes and Watson or the Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza of
the PBA. If you saw one at a PBA function, the other was most likely
somewhere nearby.
Their friendship was so in sync that even Papero’s and Santia-
go’s wives were convinced they shared a brain. But keeping up
with Santiago and his contributions to the PBA, his family and the
community was something that even Papero could hardly wrap his
head around.
“He was everywhere,” Papero confirms. “The guy was literally at
every event he could have possibly been.”
Santiago was the kind of guy who never took a day off from serv-
ing his community. If he wasn’t working a shift, he was helping pre-
Peer Assistance Response Team
For assistance with any issues related to mental health,
addiction, suicide prevention or critical incidents, contact:
• Dr. Eugene Stefanelli
Clinical Services Director
Hotline: 732- 609-3554
Cell: 973-768-5300
• Mauro Farallo
Peer Liaison Committee
Chairman
Cell: 973-902-7821
• Cherie Castellano
Executive Director
Cop-2-Cop
Hotline: 866-267-2267
Cell: 732-713-8037
• Dr. Michael Bizzarro
(On call backup doctor
for Dr. Stefanelli.)
Cell: 732-771-7165
• Kenneth Burkert
Volunteer Peer Liaison
Cell: 908-346-1691
• Father John McCrone
Clergy for all NJSPBA
members
Cell: 201-707-2678
pare and distribute food to Trenton’s inner-city families in need. He
was a loyal father to his two daughters and a dedicated member of
the PBA.
“Everybody wanted Pablo to be part of their group because he
made their group better,” Papero explained. “Everybody wanted
him there.”
For Papero, learning how to cope with the loss of his partner in
preventing crime, brother and best friend will be like learning how
to navigate the world with a piece of himself missing. However
CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ JANUARY 2019 49