Retiring 30 year NYPD cop honors fallen officers including Rafael Ramos, Wenjian Liu

A longtime NYPD cop and training sergeant who spent his entire career in Brooklyn remembered his fallen brothers in blue – including slain Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu – as he retired from the force after 30 years. Sgt. Thomas Brogan walked out of the 84th Precinct – his most recent home – on Friday afternoon, and reminisced on all the moments that shaped his career, including the tragic ones.

“Sometimes the memories are so real, it feels like I have to brush them away from my face,” Brogan said. “Especially the ones of the people who are no longer with us….even though I continuously think of them.” During the walkout, Brogan reiterated a year end toast members of the NYPD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums Band recite annually: “To all those that have gone before us.” He listed the names of several NYPD officers assigned to the 84th Precinct who died during his 20 year tenure there.

Among them were Ramos and Liu, who were gunned down assassination style in 2014 by a repeat offender. Liu, 32, a newlywed of only two months, had seven years on the force; Ramos, 40, dad to two sons, had two years on the job. Brogan also honored Officer Alain Schaberger, who was shoved to his death off a brownstone stoop by a man he was attempting to arrest in connection to a domestic offense on March 13, 2011.

Brogan joined the NYPD in 1994 and served 10 years in the 70th Precinct as a police officer. He was promoted to sergeant in 2004 and served the next 20 years in the 84th Precinct. He remained there through the end of his career, serving as a training sergeant for young officers, a role in which he took immense pride.

“I was on patrol for 21 years. I enjoyed being on the street – that’s why I took this job,” Brogan said. “Working with all the different men and women in this department, I met so many friends in those years and made so many memories.” Another officer remembered Brogan fondly during his final walkout.

“We will miss him,” the officer said. “He taught generations of cops in the 84th Precinct how to do the job effectively and safely. But Sgt. Brogan also stressed the importance of maintaining positive relationships with the community and to have fun at work, a fleeting rarity in the current law enforcement climate.”.