For most of the NYPD’s new cadets, the dangers of police work are something they will learn in time. For Dina Loor, it’s all too real.
Probationary Police Officer Loor was sworn in yesterday along with 1,246 other new cadets about to set out for six months of academy training this week.
The 27-year-old mother of two said she found her calling in life through a tragedy that nearly left her a widow: Her police-officer husband was stabbed in the head while on patrol last year.
“I have always been driven to this,” Loor said. “I have a passion for the law and to serve my community.”
Police Officer Eder Loor was responding to a call of an emotionally disturbed person in Harlem with his partner on that fateful night in April 2012.
As the cops were attempting to escort 27-year-old bipolar schizophrenic Terrance Hale out of his mother’s apartment building, the disturbed man snapped, allegedly plunging a 3 1/2-inch knife into the cop’s brain.
Remarkably, the six-year veteran survived. He was promoted to detective about a year later for his bravery, but his injuries left him unable to continue his service with the Police Department.
It was then that Dina Loor, a John Jay College graduate, began the long road to becoming a police officer, ensuring her husband’s dreams would carry on.
“I would say that I wanted to pursue this career more than I had ever anticipated,” Loor said.
Loor said that despite her husband’s brush with death, he supported her decision 100 percent.
“He’s been very encouraging,” she said. “He’s always telling me to follow my heart, and this is where my heart is.”
Loor says her only concern about becoming an officer were the couple’s two children, ages 6 and 2.
“On the way out today, my 6-year-old ran up to me and said, ‘Mommy, Mommy you’re going to be a cop.’ ”
Loor said she’s also grateful to the NYPD for the support it has shown her, and gave some advice to her fellow cadets.
“The Police Department has been so good to us, and I thank them enough for that,” she said. “My advice to other people joining the force is to always be ready and alert. You should always trust your partner.”
Republished with permission of The New York Post.
