Documentary Will Honor Nassau Officer's Ultimate Sacrifice

Fallen Nassau County Police Officer Arthur Lopez is the focus of a feature-length documentary that will be seen by thousands of police recruits and students around the country. 

And that documentary: “Heroes Behind The Badge – Sacrifice & Survival” will have its local premier in Nassau County Sunday at Hofstra University. The public is invited.

The film is being produced in partnership with the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Fund and recounts the harrowing stories of cops who were caught in the line of fire but managed to survive, the film’s promoters say.

It is also about two officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, including Nassau County Police Officer Arthur Lopez, a member of Nassau’s special services unit, who died in the line of duty last year.

Lopez is the focal point of the story, said Bill Erfurth, the film’s producer, in an interview with Patch. The story also looks another line-of-duty death and three others who survived attacks while on duty.

“I was moved by how many people had such admiration for Officer Lopez,” Erfurth said. “This was a guy with a contagious smile, a ‘go-getter’ with a tremendous future now lost because of this tragedy.”

Erfurth, a former police officer, has taken up the cause of bringing attention to the danger police officers face across the country. The documentary, like a previous one he produced, will be shown at police academies around the country and in college criminal justice classes.

He quoted this shocking statistic: “Every 54 hours, a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in America.”

The 90-minute documentary is also being shown to raise money for the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Fund. Fifty percent of the net proceeds from Sunday's event will benefit the organization.

The film’s screening will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15 at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse at Hofstra University, just off Hempstead Turnpike.

Tickets are $15.