Packed wake for NYPD icon
HE WAS a cop right out of central casting, Irish-born and New York City tough, and when the rank and file, from Miami to Manhattan, looked to a leader in the trenches, they all saw the same man: John Timoney.
Timoney, who died last week after a battle with lung cancer, was saluted Monday by the brass and beat cops who filled a wake at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on the Upper East Side.
“He started on the beat and went to the top,” said PBA President Patrick Lynch. “He stood up for cops and he stood behind cops. It’s a terrible loss.”
Timoney, 68, began his career as a Bronx beat cop in 1969. He quickly moved up the ranks, and in 1994 became the youngest chief of department in the NYPD’s history before serving as Bill Bratton’s first deputy commissioner during Bratton’s first tenure as police commissioner.
“John Timoney was a very special man,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “John epitomized the very best of the New York City Police Department.”
When Bratton left the top spot in 1996, he recommended Timoney as his successor. But then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani instead named Howard Safir. Months later, Timoney left the NYPD under controversy after calling Safir “a lightweight.”
Timoney went on to become the commissioner of the Philadelphia police force and the chief of police in Miami.
“He was a tough, smart, strong and principled leader,” said Former Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Mourners filed by Timoney’s open casket, which was surrounded by pictures of him in various posts, and a huge floral arrangement of an NYPD badge.
Timoney’s funeral will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Timoney will be laid to rest afterward at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County.