Park, MN.Relatives and friends gathered to remember her on Thursday,

March 10, 2016 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

Donations may be made in Lori’s memory to the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network (to aid in research), c/o Ginny Knackmuhs, Treasurer, 477 Ackerson Ave., Wyckoff, NJ 07481.

Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneral-home.com

Michael G. QuinnSARATOGA SPRINGS — Michael G. Quinn died at his home on March 4, 2016 of complications from Alzheimer Disease. Born on October 12, 1944 in Jersey City, New Jersey, Michael was the son of the late Michael J. and Adele (Eyre) Quinn. He is survived by his loving wife Brenda; his daugh-ter Hannah, whom he adored and was truly proud of; a sister Margot (Boylan) and niece and nephew Laura and Greg.

Raised in Ridgewood, NJ, Michael graduated from high school in 1962. He enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Turkey and Germany in the Army Security Agency. After his service, Michael pursued his education obtaining his BA in Medieval History from Rutgers University, a certificate from The Post Graduate Center for Mental Health in NYC, and his Master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham University.

Michael met his wife Brenda at Fordham in 1978, the two became best friends and were inseparable from that point until his death. In 1986, after living and working in NYC for 10 years, the couple moved to Saratoga Springs.

Michael was a clinical therapist, a job he loved, for 34 years. He practiced first at the Counseling and Human Development Center on Wall Street and then for the Samaritan Counseling Center of the Capital Region until his retirement in 2011. Michael was a dedicated therapist who never met a client that he didn’t like and find interesting. He was an avid bicyclist and kayaker, loved to read, work on cars, tell stories and have “adventures.”

The family would like to thank Community Hospice of Saratoga for their compassionate care of Michael and the kindness and sensitivity they showed us during his final week.

A funeral home service with military honors will be con-ducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 12, 2016 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer Association, Northeastern New York Chapter, 4 Pine West Plaza, Suite 405, Albany, NY 12205.

Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuner-alhome.com

Week of March 11 – March 17, 2016 OBITUARIES 7

someone twice his age. “I love it here,” he told me. “It’s a great department to work for – very much community-based policing.”

We started in the dispatch office, where I met Aaron Deuel and Aneisha Liska, who field the calls as they come in. The room was softly lit, with most of the glow coming from the multiple monitors at each desk. One wall was lined with a glass partition between the front of the office and dispatch, and Sergeant Robert Dennis leaned in through the win-dow to sing the praises of the dispatch department.

“There aren’t that many cities left that still have local dispatchers,” he said. “The 911 calls are routed through the county sheriff ’s office directly to the offi-cers, but our calls are routed here.”

Dennis explained that local dis-patchers are supreme multitaskers. They not only dispatch the call quickly, but they simultaneously research the call and keep the officers updated with their findings, such as whether there might be a gun registered to the homeowner on a domestic dispute call. According to Dennis, county dispatchers don’t have time to provide that level of background, and that work provided by local dispatch has saved time, money, and lives.

The station was bigger than it appeared, and tours are commonly held for schools and other groups. I was taken to the interview rooms where suspects and victims were questioned. We then visited the initial intake area where the personal belongings of suspects were inventoried and their photos taken. Hanging on the wall were sturdy shack-les that made me immediately think of every prison movie I’d ever seen. I saw the digital fingerprinting station, the breathalyzer that was set and ready to go, the roll-call room that doubles for train-ing, and the storage area for firearms. We also visited the room where the body

cameras were recharged and down-loaded for future review or to be deleted, as the case may be.

VanWie drove a marked police vehicle that was equipped with the standard dashboard camera, com-puter monitor and printer for checking license plates and inputting traffic tick-ets, and secure places for firearms. As we drove along, he demonstrated how he could flip a switch to see the speeds of all the cars coming toward us or going away from us, easily distinguishable at a glance.

We drove through different areas of the city as a standard check, pull-ing through the train station, down Broadway and through different neigh-borhoods. We spoke about his training at the police academy, and the regular fire-arm training all officers receive through-out the year, even though state law does not require additional training for offi-cers beyond initial firearm certification. VanWie’s training has prepared him for everything from domestic disputes to active shooter situations, and even to notice, in the few seconds that a car drove past us, that its inspection sticker was out of date.

Around 11:30 p.m., after a few routine calls, I was handed over to the

care of Sergeant Mark Leffler, well-known for his numerous DWI arrests and named 2014 Officer of the Year by the Saratoga Springs Police Lieutenant’s Police Benevolent Association. He had a hand in the background checks and training of some of the young officers working that night, and in his capacity as patrol supervisor on the midnight shift, we took his unmarked vehicle to back up some of the traffic stops of other officers.

Just as VanWie did, we took a tour of various neighborhoods and busi-nesses, checking that all is normal. By 1 a.m., Caroline Street had a strolling crowd of laughing people enjoying a relaxing Friday night with friends and coworkers. I couldn’t help but smile as we slowly pulled past the wave of people out having a good time.

Some, however, were having too good of a time. Leffler and I pulled in behind one DWI stop, watching while Officer Joe Hughes put a driver through a sobriety field test. The sergeant explained each step to me as the driver walked a line, balanced on one foot, and finally turned and put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed with a rueful smile, knowing he’d been caught fair and

Behind the Thin Blue LineContinued from front page.

See Blue Line page. 10

Officer VanWie and all Saratoga Springs Police Officers wear body cameras which are stored in this charging and download station. Photo courtesy of Saratoga Springs Police Department.