Three LI officers honored for service despite adversity

Ronald Geoffrion took a test 25 years ago to become an NYPD officer after friends dared him to do so.

A truck driver at the time, Geoffrion said he "maxed" out the exam. He has been a police officer ever since.

Despite the fact that he has battled prostate cancer, a serious blood ailment and diabetes, Geoffrion won't think of retiring, especially after being honored Thursday.

The officer, 50, was one of six police officers and detectives, including three from Long Island, bestowed this year's NYPD Theodore Roosevelt Award. Named after the former U.S. president who was also the president of the New York City Police Commission from 1895 to 1897, the award is given to cops who overcome grave illnesses and continue serving in the line of duty.

Officers included some with inoperable cancers, brain tumors, kidney disease and a combination of ailments. They were given awards at a ceremony at the New York Yacht Club Wednesday night. At the officers' request, Newsday is not publishing their hometowns.

"I enjoy going to work," said Geoffrion, who for the last nine years has been a firearms and tactics trainer for the NYPD at its Rodman's Neck facility in the Bronx. "That is what kept me going and the department was a very big help."

Geoffrion, who lives in Nassau County, developed a blood deficiency in which his red blood cell count is abnormally low. The condition is controlled by diet and monitoring. But in 2004, after feeling pain in his groin, Geoffrion learned he had prostate cancer. Radiation treatments followed. Finally, he developed type-2 diabetes, which he controls with medication.

Why didn't Geoffrion just file for disability?

No way, the veteran cop said.

"I have a lot of capacity for the job," said Geoffrion, whose wife, Charlene, and the couple's three children have been supportive. "I feel like a schoolteacher in a real sense."

Det. Hugo Navarro, 37, was chasing down a drug suspect in 2007 when he injured his knee. A follow-up physical detected stage-three colon cancer, Navarro said. A regime of chemotherapy and radiation was followed by surgery, which he said removed 16 inches of his colon.

Navarro, a resident of Nassau County and a former undercover detective, said he too didn't want to quit in the face of illness. He trains new undercover cops.

"I have young children so I did everything I could to be here for them," Navarro said yesterday.Detective Keith McLaughlin, also from Suffolk County, learned at age 41 he had malignant melanoma. A brutal regime of chemotherapy followed. Today, at 44, McLaughlin, married with two kids, is a member of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's security detail.

"There is no way I would settle [quit] with this," said McLaughlin, when asked why he stayed with the NYPD while battling cancer.