January 14, 2024 – In Breaking News – NEW YORK POST

Joseph Zadroga — a fierce advocate for first responders who suffered illness after the 9/11 attacks — died in a freak accident on Saturday when he was struck by an elderly driver who mistakenly hit the gas in a New Jersey parking lot, cops said.

Zadroga — the father of late 9/11 first responder James Zadroga — had just visited his wife at the hospital when he was struck in the parking lot by 82-year-old driver James McNeal at around 2 p.m., according to the Galloway Township Police Department.

Joseph Zadroga, 76, of Little Egg Harbor, has been credited with spearheading the Zadroga Act for 9/11 families, which helped deliver much-needed funds to the families of first responders.

(See the impact Joseph Zadroga, a former New Jersey police chief, had on 9/11 survivors and their families. Courtesy of CBS New York and YouTube. Posted on Jan 15, 2024.)

He was standing beside his parked Hyundai Tucson when McNeal tried to park his 2021 Nissan SUV at about 2 p.m. and hit the gas instead of the brake.

Zadroga was struck by the McNeal’s SUV and pinned underneath.

First responders performed “life-saving measures” and rushed him to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Mainland Division, where he died.

Zadroga’s son, James, was a veteran NYPD cop who died in 2006 of a respiratory illness he developed after responding to the 9/11 attacks in Lower Manhattan.

His death — at just 34 years old — was attributed to the presence of a variety of particles in his lungs.

The Zadroga family became famous after lending their name to a 2011 law that provided health benefits and compensation to others who fell ill after responding to the World Trade Center site.

(Hear directly from Joe Zadroga, father of New York police officer James Zadroga, who died of a respiratory illness after assisting in rescue efforts at ground zero. He says government officials spent years denying his son’s symptoms were related to ground-zero rescue efforts. “We spent five years trying to get Jimmy help,” says Zadroga. “Everyone refused to help us.” Congressmember Carolyn Maloney said she faced extreme pressure to change the name of the James Zadroga Health and Compensation Act, which provides billions in healthcare for them. Courtesy of Democracy Now! and YouTube. Posted on Sep 7, 2021.)

After his son’s death, Joseph Zadroga and other activists pushed hard to extend the law for 25 years past its initial 2016 expiration date.

“I just want everybody out there, the victims who got sick, to have the health care that they deserve, because Jimmy didn’t get it,” Zadroga said at a 2014 rally near Ground Zero, and he wept when he remembered that his son could barely walk up the stairs in the end.

Continue reading… Grieving father Joseph Zadroga, who helped create 9/11 compensation fund, dies in freak parking lot accident

Editor’s note:

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of James and Joseph Zadroga, both blood and blue.

You have our deepest gratitude and respect for your bravery and commitment to 9/11 Families and First Responders with pride and distinction. Your lives mattered greatly, and you will be remembered.

 

NYPD Icons Recognized as Legends in Leadership in 2023 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program

American Security Today’s Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards, the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program, now entering its Ninth Year, recognizes industry leaders of Physical and Border Security, Cybersecurity, Emergency Preparedness – Management and Response, Law Enforcement, First Responders as well as federal, state and municipal government agencies in the acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to Keep our Nation Secure.

 

Keechant Sewell, the 45th Police Commissioner for the City of New York

2023 ‘ASTORS’ Legends in Leadership Award

• American Security Today is proud to announce our Inaugural 2023 ‘ASTORS’ Legends in Leadership Award Recognized Keechant Sewell, the 45th Police Commissioner of New York’s Finest and the first woman to oversee the nation’s largest police department, the New York City Police Department (NYPD). 

• As commissioner, Sewell executed multiple strategies, reducing crime in most major crime categories.

• She also collaborated with federal agencies to enhance counterterrorism workstreams and implemented the use of technology to assist investigations and ensure public safety.

• Commissioner Sewell came out to address ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon attendees, sharing her thoughts following her almost three decades of service.

• Commissioner Sewell spoke to changes she’s seen in governing and law enforcement and the impacts of violence on social order.

• She also spoke about maintaining and encouraging future generations to embrace social order with accountability, responsibility, self-discipline, and respect for one another in our lives and communities.

• Commissioner Sewell challenged the First Responder Community to continue excelling in their chosen professions and to ensure their social contracts about service, peer support, and mental, physical, and moral fitness are inviolable.

• Commissioner Sewell thanked American Security Today for the opportunity and applauded AST’s efforts to support our nation’s first responders and government agencies, who ‘show up and do the work each day’ to safeguard our nation and citizens.

 

William Bratton, Legendary Police Commissioner

2023 ‘ASTORS’ Lifetime Achievement Award

• American Security Today had the Distinct Pleasure and Honor of Recognizing Commissioner Bill Bratton, Executive Chairman of TENEO Risk Advisory, with the Inaugural 2023 ‘ASTORS’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

• This award was envisioned specifically for Commissioner Bratton in Recognition and Deep Gratitude and Respect for his almost 50-year Public Safety and Homeland Security Career – to which he has dedicated his life.

• Commissioner Bratton continues to drive thought leadership and innovation as the author of his most recent work: ‘The Profession: A Memoir of Community, Race, and the Arc of Policing in America,’ as well as on numerous Public Safety Advisory Boards and also currently serves as the Chair for the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council.

 

The pinnacle of the Annual ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security and Government Excellence Awards is the Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon.

In 2023, this exclusive sold-out event featured at ISC East, well over two hundred representatives of law enforcement, public safety, and industry leaders came together to honor the selfless service of those who stand on the front lines – and those who stand beside them – providing the capabilities and technologies to create a safer world for future generations.

Comprehensive collaborations between these private and public sectors have led to the development of innovative intelligence and technologies that serve to protect our Nation.

Steven Dettelbach, Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives, delivered the keynote address at the 2023 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security and Excellence in Public Safety Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon.

Director Dettelbach spoke with passion on the epidemic of Gun Violence by Illegal Guns taking place across the United States, which results in over 125 deaths daily and impacting generations of families – leaving open chairs at holiday events.

Firearm injuries were the leading case of death for children for the third year in a row, he explained, and have doubled in the U.S. since 2021, levels that are simply intolerable.

Director Dettelbach lauded the strong partnerships with Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Policing that ATF has earned and relies upon to reduce violence and spoke with admiration as a former prosecutor on the selfless sense of mission and drive that is universal across the entire First Responder Community.

The prestigious Annual ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program highlights the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.

The ‘ASTORS’ was specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit, and intelligence to end-users in a variety of government, homeland security, enterprise, and public safety vertical markets.

(See a few highlights during the 2023 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security and Government Excellence Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon in NYC during ISC East on November 16, 2023. Courtesy of AST, My Pristine Images, and Vimeo.)

AST puts forward the Largest and Most Qualified Circulation in Government with Over 75,000 readers on the Federal, State and Local levels.

AST Digital Publications are distributed to over 75,000 qualified government and homeland security professionals in federal, state, local, and private security sectors.

‘PROTECTING OUR NATION, ONE CITY AT A TIME’

AST Reaches Private and public Experts, essential to meeting these new challenges.

Today’s new generation of public safety and security experts need real-time knowledge to deal with domestic and international terrorism, lone wolf attacks, unprecedented urban violence, shifts in society, culture, and media bias – making it increasingly difficult for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Military and Private Security Professionals to implement coordinated security measures to ensure national security and improve public safety.

These experts are from the Government at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as from private firms allied to the government.

AST provides a full plate of topics in our AST Monthly Magazine Editions, AST Website, and AST Daily News Alerts, covering 23 Vital Sectors such as Access Control, Perimeter Protection, Video Surveillance/Analytics, Airport Security, Border Security, CBRNE Detection, Border Security, Ports, Cybersecurity, Networking Security, Encryption, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Campus Security, Security Services, Corporate Facilities, and Emergency Response among others.

AST has Expanded readership into integral Critical Infrastructure audiences such as Protection of Nuclear Facilities, Water Plants and Dams, Bridges and Tunnels, and other potential targets of terrorism.

Other areas of concern include Transportation Hubs, Public Assemblies, Government Facilities, Sporting and Concert Stadiums, our Nation’s Schools and Universities, and Commercial Business Destinations – all enticing targets due to the large number of persons and resources clustered together.

AST strives to meet a 3 STAR trustworthiness rating, based on the following criteria:

• Provides named sources
• Reported by more than one notable outlet
• Includes supporting video, direct statements, or photos

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