HE EXEMPLIFIED CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31
his worst nightmares from that day, he wanted to make a mark wherever he went.”
Two hours before Yagan’ s funeral on April 24, thousands of police officers gathered at the mosque at the Circassian Benevolent Association in Wayne. Following the service, his casket was carried from the mosque draped in the traditional Circassian prayer blanket.
Once outside, the prayer blanket was removed, and law enforcement officers replaced it with the traditional American flag draping.
“ That was the first time it was done like that in the world, I’ m told,” noted Lieutenant Shawn McGiver, who runs the Paterson Police Traffic Unit.“ When we got to the cemetery, we were able to do the military flag folding ceremony and give the flag to Tamby’ s family.”
Tamby lived in New Jersey until fifth grade, when his family moved to his father’ s native Syria. After his father’ s death, Tamby came back to Paterson to embark on the law enforcement career that he had talked about since age 10.
His mission to inspire as many people as possible could be seen at the funeral. Three employees from the Manhattan Bagels store, where he stopped every morning to get breakfast, attended the funeral.
“ He was always our hero, but on the day of his funeral, we saw the extent of how many people he touched,” Merza confided.
The extent of how many people Yagan touched could be measured by the Paterson Police Department promoting him to detective after his death.
The extent of how much respect the community had for Yagan was confirmed when 10 imams from Passaic and Bergen counties attended the Paterson Blue Mass on May 1, when Yagan was honored.
The extent of how he touched them could be seen in the makeshift monument of his uniform and helmet sitting out front of the traffic unit for days after his passing.
The extent of how he touched everybody could be heard in a tear-filled comment from McGiver.
“ He died on Sunday,” McGiver began.“ If you talked to anybody on Saturday they would have said the exact same things about Tamby as they did on Sunday.”
‘ He put everybody before himself’
The tears filling the Paterson Police Traffic Unit facility have been flowing almost every day around noon. At lunchtime, Tamby could often be found sitting at the breakroom table of this old Paterson firehouse, sharing reports about the day’ s patrol activities or perhaps joking with one of his famed“ rumor has it” routines, in which he would deliver some fake news or other punch line.
Thinking of those lunchtime punch lines makes many of Yagan’ s unit mates well up, remembering what they will miss most.
“ He was a good dude,” Maher interjected as he rose from the kitchen table to search for more paper towels.
Such words are the highest praise within a motorcycle unit in which officers assigned to events often ride two-by-two. It’ s the camaraderie that wrought the tears, and it’ s that brotherhood that Tamby lived for.
“ We just keep thinking about the discussions we used to have in the morning as a family,” McGiver related.“ When our guys talk about a family, this was it.”
With those words, Jose Galvan, a Local 1 member for three years, stopped eating his lunch and wiped his eyes. Galvan knows how Tamby treated every officer like a brother. He would work traffic details early in the morning, and Yagan would just show up early for his tour to provide support or give Galvan a chance to catch a breather.
“ He did so many things for so many people,” Galvan acknowledged.“ He put everybody before himself.”
Sergeant Rich Sharon had the pleasure of knowing Tamby on and off the job. Sitting at that table, the thought that keeps flashing before his eyes – the one that moves him to tears – is the photo he saw on Instagram the night before Tamby’ s accident of him taking Duny bowling. Yagan’ s Instagram shows pictures of him with Duny bowling, playing baseball, doing everything together.
“ He lived for the kid,” Sharon cried.“ That was his pride and joy.”
‘ The quintessential police officer’
To know Tamby Yagan, merely study the photo that pays tribute to him on the cover of this issue. Notice how his boots are shined, how his breeches are pressed, how he looks like the consummate public servant and motor officer. He always dressed at home before coming to work and never left without making sure he was squared away.
Now, look at the expression on his face. Perhaps Tamby has seen something on the street there that has made him happy. Perhaps one of the kids in town who used to constantly ask to take a picture with him sitting on his motorcycle is approaching. Perhaps that’ s how he looked every day on the job.
“ That picture is perfect Tamby,” Galvan describes.“ Down-toearth, not uptight, just enjoying the day, enjoying the company, enjoying being a police officer.”
McGiver wants to have this photo blown up large enough to cover the door entering the break room at the traffic unit facility. He believes Yagan will be an inspiration for Paterson officers for generations to come.
“ I don’ t know the right words. Maybe just his presence,” McGiver continued.“ I cannot tell you how many pictures of him with kids there are all over social media. He was always one of the biggest guys in the room but one of the easiest to approach.”
Paterson Captain George Vazquez knew a side of Tamby that impressed everybody in the department. Vazquez asserted how Yagan never caused any trouble for the bosses, how he was one of those guys who needed minimal supervision to complete whatever assignment he was given.
32 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MAY 2018