Members of the Harbor Patrol, a specialized unit of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, received a special thank you from St. Rita School in Alexandria March 21.
Fourth graders expressed their appreciation to the officers, who conducted the recovery operation on the Potomac River following the Jan. 29 Reagan National Airport disaster, with a breakfast of bagels, fruit, and doughnuts and a basket of thank-you cards at the Harbor Patrol in Washington. Each of the grades, ranging from preschool to eighth grade, created a bundle of cards.
The fourth grade class took a tour during their visit. Officer Robert Barusefski climbed into his dive gear — complete with flippers — and Lt. Andrew Horos explained each component.
As Barusefski breathed heavily into his mask, Horos asked, “What does that sound like?” “Darth Vader!” the fourth graders exclaimed.
With a little help from the officers, the students donned life vests before Horos led them on a tour of the docks. He pointed to an airboat with a fan mounted on the back before telling the students that this boat was directly involved in the recovery operations following the Jan. 29 air disaster.
He raised a test dummy for students to see and described how the Harbor Patrol uses dummies for training exercises. Horos said the dummy would be placed inside a test car and plunged into the river; divers would then “rescue” the dummy.
Horos also showed the students a “dog boat,” where officers could bring a police dog to sniff for evidence.
Fourth grader Isabella Bethencourt said that the officers’ demonstrations made the trip fascinating. “I really liked how they demonstrated how they saved people’s lives. They didn’t just tell us what they did, they showed us how they did it, and that proves that they’re really working hard,” she said.
Commander Jason Bagshaw helped organize the tour with Msgr. Sal Criscuolo, who has served as chaplain to the Metropolitan Police for 39 years in the Archdiocese of Washington.
“For us, it gives the officers a chance to just interact and to share their knowledge and skills and abilities, and teach a little bit in a short timeframe to kids,” Bagshaw said. “I think it gives the kids an opportunity to see police officers do more than just arrest the bad guys.”
The Harbor Patrol oversees the river and other nearby bodies of water, as Bagshaw said, “making sure that the waterways are safe.”
