A pair of cops who paid the ultimate price protecting New York were honored today by the city and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who dedicated two harbor boats in their names.
“We will always consider them a part of our one, inseparable police family,” Kelly said as he named two boats for NYPD Detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty, who were shot and killed responding to a domestic violence call in Brooklyn nine years ago.
The officers were gunned down by a thug in East Flatbush in September 2004, but both were able to provide dispatchers with enough information to point to their killer.
Before Parker died from his gunshot wounds, he gave a 911 operator information about the shooter and told a dispatcher where to find a mug shot of him in their patrol car.
Rafferty had returned fire at the gunman, wounding him, before he died.
Their final acts helped cops catch the killer in fewer than two hours.
Both were veteran officers who had made more than 300 arrests each before they died in the line of duty.
“We owe them a debt of gratitude,” Kelly said. “Detective Robert Parker was a seasoned veteran of 22 years in the department, a gentle giant whose heart was as big as he was. Bobby was universally respected and loved. Bobby savored every ounce of life, from the grittiest crime scenes to the cherished company of his beloved daughter. He was indeed one of our best.”
The new boats will be used to patrol New York Harbor and in water rescues. They have thermal cameras and state-of-the-art navigation for improved night searches.
Rafferty’s daughter, Emma Rafferty, 13, was impressed by the technology on board the vessels and explained what the dedication meant to her.
“I think he would have been really happy,” she said of her dad. “He loves boats.”
Rafferty’s widow, Eileen, agreed.
“He was very happy out on the water,” she said.