Permanent memorial now at the Poughkeepsie train station
POUGHKEEPSIE – Thursday, February 18th, marked the fifth anniversary of the tragic line-of-duty death of City of Poughkeepsie Police Detective John Falcone. Fellow officers, joined by officers from neighboring jurisdictions, family, friends and local elected officials marched to the John Falcone Memorial, at the Poughkeepsie train station, where they held a memorial ceremony in honor of Detective Falcone’s sacrifice.
For the duration of the march and ceremony, the weather remained hospitable; something that City of Poughkeepsie Police Chief Ronald Knapp attributed to Detective Falcone, “watching over them”.
Chief Knapp said he believed Falcone would have been proud to see the ceremony turnout, as it was not just for him but included other Poughkeepsie officers that had lost their lives serving the community. Knapp, who spoke on Detective Falcone’s character, said he was outspoken about the remembrance of Poughkeepsie officers who had lost their lives before him and knew he would appreciate the attention to those individuals’ sacrifices, as well as his own.
“When something went wrong, he was the one you wanted to clean it up and make everybody happy and he was always the guy you could count on for doing that and he was also, at the time, a big one on trying to remember those two officers that had died before him and it’s just very odd that he became an officer that died in the line of duty himself but, I’m sure that the attention to his death that the other officers have received, he would be very proud of today,” said Knapp.
As a testament to Falcone’s memory, on this the fifth anniversary of his death, the MTA has designated the Poughkeepsie Train Station parking lot area around Falcone’s memorial a no parking zone.
Currently, charities are operating for Falcone, his nephews and the other deceased officers. Paul Featherston, PBA president for Poughkeepsie, said that anyone interested in donating can contact the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department.
Officers from Poughkeepsie and around the region gathered for the ceremony
