Over 20 academies and colleges are using Cynthia Brown's book Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage in the classroom. Free study guide available.
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- Steve Bonano on top of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in 2004. When this photo was taken, Steve had reached the rank of "Inspector" and was commander of the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit.
From Chapter Eight: Steve Bonano: It’s Not a Job, It’s a Calling . . . One night when Steve was on patrol with Tommy Crowe, they heard a barrage of gunfire. They headed in the direction of the shots. Tommy was driving. He made a left turn and both officers saw a man standing on the corner randomly shooting a firearm.
“Another cruiser pulled up at the same time and we almost ran into each other,” Steve said. “Once we got closer we could see the man was shot up pretty bad, but he still had a gun in his hand.
"The cops pulled their weapons and ordered him to drop the gun. The suspect was incoherent. The police could tell he could not hear them. One of the officers, Joe Zallo, tackled the man and was able to get him face down on the street. Steve said despite the fact he was riddled with bullets, but the man put up a fight to keep hold of his gun. “A few seconds passed before Joe was able to get a hold of the weapon and put the cuffs on,” Steve recalled. “When Joe stood up, he was covered with blood.”
Just one of 15 extraordinary officers profiled in Cynthia Brown’s book Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage with a foreword by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, is Joe Herbert who today is one of the NYPD’s top people working the counter terror beat.
Widely considered one of the most skilled homicide investigators in the NYC Police Department, Joe Herbert was tapped just days after September 11th, 2001, to join twenty-five other top detectives to begin the painstaking work of finding out who was behind the attacks. While the fires burn and the dust swirls, Joe spends his days combing the rubble for clues. He begins a monumental research project so he can better understand Al Qaeda and formulate a plan to bring whoever committed the crime to justice.
