Crowd gathers to honor tenth anniversary of Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy's death

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- It has been 10 years since Officer Chuck Cassidy was killed in the line of duty.

And as they have every year since that day, family, friends, and fellow officers gathered Wednesday at the location where it happened to honor his memory.

Officer Cassidy's widow said she can't believe how many people still show up for this event.

"Every year you wonder is it still going to be the same?" said Judy Cassidy. "And it just seems to get bigger and bigger, and it hurts but it's a good hurt when you see everyone."

Officer Cassidy's colleagues said the fact that hundreds of people showed up is a reflection of the fact that he didn't just work in the 35th district, it was the community where he was born in raised.

"He was part of the community relations office and the administration staff there. So he would go up and down Broad Street and go into the neighborhoods and reach out to people," said Philadelphia Police Captain Ernest Ransom.

And on Wednesday night, we were introduced to a new member of the community.

Eighteen-month-old Charlie LaPera is Chuck Cassidy's first grandchild, named after her heroic grandfather.

Judy Cassidy said she is certain that over the years Charlie will learn all about her pop-pop.

"I'm still getting stories from people that know Chuck that I didn't know," said Judy Cassidy. "And when I meet them, they always have another story about Chuck that we didn't know."

And Cassidy's love ones say they find peace in the fact that the gathering serve as proof that Chuck Cassidy will be remembered the way he would've wanted to be remembered.

"Family-man, hard-working man committed to his community," said Tony Conti, Cassidy's brother-in-law. "That's just about the best way you can remember Chuck Cassidy."

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