Sorrowful salute
to a fallen officer

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

For a few seconds last Friday, the adult son of slain Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski made the hallowed Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul sound a lot like the Wachovia Center during a Flyers game.
Except the people at the cathedral for Liczbinski’s funeral Mass seemed a bit more enthusiastic when the slain officer’s son, Matt Liczbinski, insisted that they belt out the familiar chant for his dad’s favorite team.
"I hope you’ll all join me in doing this. Try to make it loud enough, everybody inside and outside, so that he’ll hear us up there," Matt Liczbinski said before leading the throng of more than 1,500 mourners in a round of "Let’s go Flyers."
If that was the younger Liczbinski’s way of honoring one of his dad’s lifelong passions, then the congregation’s ensuing ovation most certainly celebrated the young man’s spirit in delivering the sentiment.
Six days earlier, on May 3, Stephen Liczbinski was shot and killed by a gang of bank robbers on a Port Richmond street corner just three days shy of his 40th birthday. One of the suspects — linked to the robbery of the Bank of America branch — was killed shortly after during a showdown with police. Two alleged accomplices are in custody.
Liczbinski, a Burholme resident, left behind his wife Michelle, sons Matt and Stephen, and daughter Amber.
Aside from a mutual love for the Flyers, Matt Liczbinski remembered his father as a humble man.
"He didn’t ask for much. He was a simple man," the son said. "The one thing that he wanted, and that he also made sure he gave to everyone, was respect. By all of you being here, that’s the way you’re all showing that he deserved that respect."
While officers from Liczbinski’s 24th district and his former unit, the 4th district, occupied positions at the front of the great church, officers from more than 100 jurisdictions throughout the Delaware Valley and points far beyond gathered outside along Logan Circle during the Mass.
Most followed the procession to Liczbinski’s rain-soaked burial at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem. Civilians lined the route into the cemetery, many waving American flags.
The ceremony included a 21-gun salute, a trumpet rendition of Taps, a pipes-and-drum rendition of Amazing Grace, a helicopter fly-over by the police department’s Aviation Unit, and the ceremonial dispatch of a final police radio call and sign-off for Liczbinski, whose badge number was 486.
"On behalf of his police family throughout the entire city, we’d like to thank him for a job well done," the police operator said.
A somber Mayor Michael Nutter described the tribute as "tremendous and well-deserved."
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said of the massive turnout, "It’s all for the family. They should know that they have our support not just for today. They will always have our support."
"When one of us goes down, we come together as a family," said John McNesby, president of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police. "Not just police officers, but also elected officials, command staff and the community."
Liczbinski was laid to rest atop a hill in the southwest corner of the cemetery, about 50 yards from the marker for fellow slain policeman Gary Skerski, the 15th district community-relations officer who was shot to death on May 8, 2006, while responding to an armed robbery at a Northwood bar.
Inside the church, just prior to the 90-minute Mass, Ramsey spoke of Liczbinski’s dedication to duty and his ultimate sacrifice.
"It was a typical Saturday morning like any other when he answered a call, a robbery in progress," the commissioner said. "He had probably answered a call like that hundreds of times in the past. He answered it because it was his job, a call to duty to do whatever he had to do in order to make our streets safe. He responded.
"He knew full well what the dangers were, but he went anyway. He did what came naturally to him as a police officer."
Ramsey noted that when Liczbinski earned a promotion to sergeant late last year, after a dozen years assigned to the 4th district in South Philadelphia, he asked to go to the 24th to patrol the neighborhood where he grew up.
"Why? Because he felt he owed the community something and he chose to go back there," the commissioner said.
In his homily, the Rev. Joseph McFadden, auxiliary bishop for Philadelphia, noted that "Stephen will always be looking out for us, just as he did when he patrolled the streets of Philadelphia, looking out for the peace." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com