Babylon's new rescue boat honors fallen bay constable Richard Brooks

The Town of Babylon has launched a new patrol boat and dedicated it in the name of a bay constable who was killed in the line of duty more than 20 years ago.

The 31-foot vessel, the Richard L. Brooks, is specifically designed for water rescues, town officials said. The town contracted with Safe Boats International LLC, of Bremerton, Washington, to build the customized emergency medical transport boat.

“Most of our boats are decades old” and in “different stages of repair,” Gerard Gigante, the town's public safety commissioner, told Newsday of the three fiberglass boats in their fleet.

“This is definitely a big addition to the town’s capabilities as far as patrol and rescue,” he said.

Brooks was a town bay constable who was shot and killed in the line of duty by a suspected drunken driver in Oak Beach in 2004.

The boat named for him cost $777,000 to construct and was mostly paid for using a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Port Security grant, administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grant reimbursed $588,000 of the cost, and the town bonded for the remaining $189,000, town spokesman Ryan Bonner said.

'State-of-the-art technology'

Bay Constables Steve Jaworowski and Tobie Monaco took Newsday along on a patrol on the boat recently, pointing out the vessel’s backup camera, thermal imaging, night vision and other capabilities.

“It’s pretty state-of-the-art technology,” Monaco said.

The constables went out to Washington state to take part in a demonstration of the boat and its features. It arrived in Babylon Town just over a month ago after an eight-day, cross-country transport, Monaco said.

The aluminum boat can carry 12 people and has EMT capability for stretcher patients via a hydraulic drop-down bow, officials said.

Its design allows for the transport of rescue patients on the water directly to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip. It also can be used in all weather, including on the ocean, and has a design that makes it maneuverable in tight quarters. All of these are firsts for the town, Gigante said.

A father, a firefighter and more

Brooks, 44, was a retired NYPD lieutenant who also served as a volunteer firefighter with the Amityville Fire Department since he was a teenager, his widow, Sylvia, 68, told Newsday last week. 

The father of two and a lifelong Amityville resident who was affectionately called Brooksie was on duty on 9/11 and spent months at Ground Zero.

In 2002, he retired and became a Babylon Town bay constable and also worked part-time as a security guard for Brunswick Hospital in Amityville, which closed in 2005.

Sylvia Brooks said she never imagined her husband’s part-time job as a bay constable would lead to his death.

“I was not prepared for that,” she said. “He worked for New York City police for 20 years, so I figured I would get that call while he was a police officer in the city, not when he was a bay constable out here.”

Brooks called the dedication of the boat in his name “absolutely beautiful.”

“I’m very grateful for keeping his memory alive,” she said.