Two Detectives Posthumously Promoted
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As family members prepared to bury two detectives slain in Brooklyn last week, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said yesterday the fallen officers will be posthumously promoted for helping to catch a suspect even after they were mortally wounded.
“At Mayor Bloomberg’s request, Detective Robert Parker and Detective Patrick Rafferty were posthumously promoted to the rank of detective, first grade,” Mr. Kelly said. “The promotions are in recognition of their service to the citizens of New York City and their selfless dedication to duty. These two men made the ultimate sacrifice and we will never forget them.”
Prior to the promotions, Parker, a 22-year veteran, was a second-grade detective and Rafferty, a 15-year veteran, was third grade, according to Detective Michael Palladino, president of the Detective’s Endowment Association. Mr. Palladino said he was “very happy” about the promotions, which would increase the pensions eligible to survivors.
“It was a great gesture by the mayor and police commissioner and it will help the families out greatly in raising their children,” Mr. Palladino said. Rafferty had a wife and three children; Parker had an ex-wife and stepdaughter.
Mr. Bloomberg said it was “a little way of saying thank you for all the service.”
‘There’s nothing that we can do to bring back the lives of two people who were risking their lives for the rest of us,” Mr. Bloomberg said.”You think about it; they even caught their own murderer.”
The suspect, Marlon Legere, 28, was arraigned on murder charges at Brooklyn Criminal Court on Monday and held without bail. Legere, a convicted felon, is accused of gunning down the detectives at East Flatbush on Friday.
Funeral services for Rafferty are scheduled for 10:45 a.m. today at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church at 118 W. Main St., East Islip.
Parker’s wake is set for tomorrow afternoon and evening at Grace Funeral Chapels, 607 N. Conduit Blvd., Brooklyn. The funeral will be at 10 a.m., Friday, at Christian Cultural Center, 120-20 Flatlands Ave., Brooklyn.