Names of fallen Nassau police officers added to Albany memorial on 'Police Remembrance Day'

Four Nassau County police officers who died from the coronavirus and 9/11-related diseases were remembered Tuesday at an Albany memorial to fallen officers on the state’s “Police Remembrance Day.”

The names of the four officers were among 55 added this year to the polished black granite of the State of New York Police Officers Memorial, which now includes 1,772 fallen officers. Gov. Kathy Hochul and law enforcement officials from across the state, including Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, gathered at the memorial site for a ceremony to remember those who died.

“We lost the good ones; We lost the brave ones, the selfless ones,” Hochul said, speaking to the gathering which included family members of those who died. “And I want you to know, we’ll never take for granted the life they chose, how that life ended and how countless others carry on.”

Several landmarks across the state, including One World Trade Center and the East End Gateway for the Long Island Rail Road at Penn Station, will be illuminated in blue Tuesday night. New York State’s day to remember the service of fallen officers comes before National Police Week, which begins Sunday.           

The Nassau officers include Det. Charles "Chuck" Vroom, who was on the county police force for 17 years, and Det. Hector M. Nunez, a 16-year department veteran, who died from COVID-19 complications in 2021, then a leading killer of law enforcement officers nationwide. The deaths of Police Officer Robert D. Negri Jr. and Det. Matthew A. Perlungher were ruled to be as a result of working at Ground Zero in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who attended Tuesday’s ceremony, said afterward that the annual event ensures the officers’ service to their community is remembered.

“Each and every day we train our police officers in safety and prevention of bodily harm to themselves but the public needs to understand this is a dangerous job and it’s not just a shooting that could take down a police officer, it could be a car crash, an infectious disease or illness,” Blakeman said. “It’s a reminder that there are many ways that this job is harmful and dangerous. All the training in the word and best technology isn’t foolproof.”

Thomas Shevlin, President of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, said the process of having a police officer’s name added to the wall can be lengthy.

“It means so much, especially for the families,” said Shevlin. “A lot of time, when a police officer gets killed, it makes the news for a few days or a week, and the families are the ones that have to pick up the pieces. This is something to remind them that their loved ones will always be remembered as a hero.”

Suffolk County didn’t have any line-of-duty deaths this year.

“It’s a very good thing,” said Lou Civello, second vice president for the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association. “We’re very fortunate that we’re not putting anyone on the wall this year … we had some close calls where we could have lost an officer, but by the grace of God, we did not.”

Two NYPD officers who died in the line-of-duty last year were also added to the memorial. Det. Wilbert Mora and Det. Jason Rivera were both fatally shot while responding to call for a domestic dispute in Harlem.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.