The following letter was submitted to TLS by Lakewood Police Officer David Sussman: Shalom. This article is written by me with a heavy heart. Officer Chris Matlosz was brutally murdered on Jan. 14th and his murder stole not only his life but it stole him from all of us. Chris was a young man who loved his fiance, his chosen profession, and life in general. No one I know has ever heard or spoken a bad word about Chris and the reason is because he was a Mensch, through and through. The town of Lakewood is a darker place without Chris patrolling the streets any longer. The murder suspect has been captured after an immense and intense joint effort of local, state, and federal departments and, as of today, it was announced that he was charged with another murder in our town. Officer Matlosz gave his life and it ultimately resulted in taking an alleged multiple murderer off the streets.
I want to make sure that I take the time to thank not only the numerous police departments and law enforcement personnel from around the country who came to pay their respects to Chris but also to the Orthodox community. Never before in my 23 years as a Lakewood Police Officer have I seen the outpouring of love and support from local residents that I saw today. Seeing hundreds or thousands of the Frum community line Monmouth Ave. to offer support to my department and Chris’s family brought a lump to my throat. Let me extend my personal thanks and the thanks of all of my co-workers for your compassion and understanding during our emotional crisis. Rest assured that the Lakewood Police Force will soon resume giving you the very best service and protection.
Your Mitzvahs will not be forgotten. May Hashem bless you and keep you safe, happy, and healthy.
Ptl. David Sussman
Pt. David Sussman is one of our finest and beloved officers. His smile and understanding of the community is second to none. Ive seen him in dire situations be so compationat to others that a letter like this means so much to the community and all of Lakewood !!! Keep up your GREAT Work and stay safe.
David,
That was beautifully written. Thank you for all you do and for all the LPD does. Our Hearts go out to you and the entire force during this hard time.
Very Well Written. Btw Wat Does The Prefix “PT” Stand For?
I know David for about 15 years. I just want David to know that I appreciate his big heart. He is a special person. I remember years ago being out in the street working in the early hours of the cold mornings. It wasn’t always easy. David would always be there with a big smile and lots of encouragement for me. David, thanks for the special way you do your tough job. Proffesionally yet never losing that personal touch or your big heart. I never forgot your encouragement when I was younger and just getting started. May G-d give you the strength to go on.
See what good things people can do… hopefully next time for better things.
David, thatnk you for writing this letter. Thank you for recognizing the good in our community. I hope to learn and grow from your positive remarks and attitude.
Gd bless
Thanx David, may the one above bless you and your family and all officers at lpd
I know dave for 25 yrs. We need more police officers like him in our town
Thank you David for your kind words and for the service that you and your colleagues provide for the town.
May Hash-m keep the entire LPD safe and may we get together on happier occasions.
David, Thanks for all your hard work.
I love the police department and all that they do for us. Keep up the good work, and I hope we never have to honor a police officer for giving his life for us again.
David after all the work you guys do for the communty we finaly were able to show you our love and care and thanks for all that you do.may hashem watch over us all and keep all of lkwd safe happy and united
thank you officer sussman for that thoughtful letter. although i have never personally known officer matlosz, he will be missed. thanks to you and the department for protecting our town.
Officer “David Sussman”
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to write the letter to the lakewood community & alway going above & beyond the call of duty as a police officer.
Thanks again!!!
I heard the same thing from another officer on Friday. Hopefully this will be a start of something new.
Unfortunately, the Asbury Park Press didn’t bother to print any such pictures, although they’re the first to print pictures of frum people “in other circumstances”.
Pt Sussman,
Thank you for taking the time to write your eloquent letter.
I was looking at this terrible tragedy trying to see if any good at all, even a small spark, could be gleaned from it.
And I think that the spark in the deep darkness of this tragic blow to our community is the tremendous show of unity that brought us all together in mourning Office Matlosz.
May that be a comfort to his family and his brother officers.
I have had the opportunity to approch you and discuss issues regardingcrime in our neighborhood. you are level headed, sincere and understanding. thank you for your letter.
keep up your good work of making us safe
and you should be very safe
Thank you for the kind words. Us Jews are so busy in our day to day lives that we take many things for granted. It is very sad that it took such a huge tragedy to show the entire LPD how much we care and appreciate them for their sacrifice. I ask everyone from today on, whenever we come into contact with one of Lakewood’s finest, even if they are writing us a ticket, thank them personally for all that they do
to keep us safe. May G-D bless you and the entire LPD as well as your families, and RIP Chris.
David I was equally moved. It was indeed beyond remarkable to see a whole community bind together and mourn its police officer, and I am glad you picked up on this. The sight of the Orthodox Jewish community and its leaders lining Monmouth Ave. to pay respect to Officer Matlosz was an awesome experience, and, in my opinion, unparlalled elsewhere. What is also noteworthy is that Beth Medrash Gevoah, the largest Rabbinical seminary in the USA, doesn’t shut its doors, even in the face of a blizzard; yet, out of deep respect to the officer, the faculty and all its student body were encouraged to attend Thursday’s funeral procession. Moreover, I was wondering where the other communities were. Where was African American community? Where was the Hispanic community? Where was the Latino community? Did they and their leaders also line the streets? Yes, the Jewish community of Lakewood does appreciate the work and devotion of its police officers and Monmouth Ave. on Thursday morning was testimony to this.
Thank you Officer Sussman you taking the time to acknowledge that the orthodox community went out to support the fallen officer. I work a full-time job and if i take a break, i lose pay. I appreciate all that the LPD does for Lakewood and for the Jewish community. There was no way I was not going to attend. I cannot explain how bad I feel for Kelly and for Matlosz’s family and friends, and especially his fellow police officers. I know he was a great friend to all of you and I can see by looking at all the cops that it is as tho they’ve just lost a peice of their heart. The entire police force is sad. God bless all!
Yonty,
At this time of unity let’s try to mend relations between the different factions of our great city and not point out the poor behavior of others who missed the chance to honor this great hero.
Thx david for all your hard work
thank you so much for the beautiful letter, and for helping to protect our community. May we all be blessed
Thanks this is very special of him. I believe after this incident we can work together with understanding each others need.
David – thank you for your letter, it means more to us than you’ll ever know. David ,I know I speak for many when I ask you if you can let the police chief know how appreciative our community is to have such an individual at the top who cares so deeply about the safety and well being of our community and of the entire Lakewood community. And also to all your fellow officers that till now we used to like and befriend some of the officers, but after the tragedy of last week we are all in agreement that ALL the officers have our utmost appreciation and our sincere thanks for all that they do for us each and every day.
Officer Sussman:
I personally was moved to tears numerous times during this tragic week. Whether it was when hearing the officers speaking at the candlelighting vigil,watching Kelly’s heartbroken reactions to various remarks made by different speakers,watching Kelly speak at the funeral(on another site) or watching all our Lakewood officers walk past the hearse and say their final good-bye by putting their hand on the hearse. This was really a sad week for all of us. May G-D bless all the officers of the LPD,the family of Chris,Kelly and all of us. We need to make Lakewood a better place for all to live in.
G-D Bless
Officer Sussman… Thank you for your kind wo
Thanks for this great letter. You guys put your lives on the line and it is
greatly appreciated.
What a beautiful letter. What a beautiful thing it is that when someone is moved by something, he puts it into action. Many people I believe felt the same way as officer Sussman, however, they didn’t come forth with compliments, or writting of letters. They just internalized it, momentarily, kept it to themselves, leaving it in the back of their minds. However, When something makes an impression on you, and you DO SOMETHING about it, the impression it lasts. It makes a bigger difference to you, & to the world as a whole. Writing this letter MAKES a difference. Writing this letter may seem like a small thing, but its really tremendous. It makes a difference. It shows you care to make a difference. It shows your a cut above, a person with good qualities, A PERSON WE WANT IN THIS TOWN PROTECTING THE PEOPLE! THANK YOU OFFICER SUSSMAN! THANK YOU OFFICERS FROM THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT, FOR ENFORCING ALL THE LAWS, AND KEEPING THIS TOWN THE EXCELLENT PLACE IT IS TO LIVE IN! R.I.P. CHRIS
#3 Ptl. is short for patrolman
To num 20 it was beautiful to see the jewish community come together and pay respect and you almost ruined it with your comments. But then I thought u just must be simple minded and I won’t let you ruin it. Yes you all came together and was great but everyone else like the African-Americans and the Hispanics well they were all there inside the church outside the church in uniform and in plain clothes. you may not have seen a street with just one race but that was because they were equally mixed everywhere else. Next time think before you write/speak because you almost ruined a good thing.
The reason that the Orthodox community were on a street “with one race” as you put it is that Orthodox people do not mix men and women together. At every forma event we have, every prayer service, every party, and every somber event like a funeral, the men and women do not mingle.
If we were to join the rest of the town at the funeral, vigil and so on, we would be compelled to mingle socially. That is something our religion does not allow.
It has nothing to do with race.
to #20 do not take such a lovely letter and use it to bring another rift in the community. Yes it was wonderful to see the frum community out in support of our police. Not everyone was able to be there but rest assured I am sure that all of our compassionate people in town took time to give blessings to Chris. Do not turn this into who had the most people out on the street, very juvenile.
Thank you LPD for all you do for the entire community and may you be safe.
very well said #32.
The ilegals wre scared of the many cops!
#36, keep that thought to yourself.
I want to thank all the men and woman of the Lakewood Police Dept for putting their life on the line everyday. and yes it was nice to see our community get together for matlosz’s funeral because each and everyday our safety is protected by the entire lakewood police dept.
R.i.p. Officer Chris Matlosz
#20
I don’t care if you stood outside for 8 hours(and yes, I was there-but if you went for the right reasons, you don’t need to toot your horn). You TOTALLY missed the point! It seems that everyone(well at least it ran into the thousands probably) seized on this this tragedy as an opportunity to unite against the bad elements in this town and evil in general. UNITY is what’s needed, not childish and thoughtless comments as yours.
RIP Chris
I know David since he was a child. It is obvious that his parents did a wonderful job raising him. Now he is raising his children in the right parth also. One of Lakewood’s finest!