Law enforcement officers on Tuesday honored 56 fallen heroes whose names were added to the New York State Police Officers Memorial at the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
The 39th annual Memorial Mass for Deceased Members of the Law Enforcement Community took place at Saint Mary’s Church on Lodge Street.
The Albany Police Department welcomed more than 500 officers and family members from throughout the state to pay tribute to the 56 police officers from eight departments.
Those names brought the total number on the memorial to 1,964 police officers from 157 agencies across the state, along with six federal law enforcement agencies.
Among those honored Tuesday were city of Hudson Police Department Senior Sgt. Christopher Filli, who suffered a fatal heart attack while on duty shortly after responding to a 911 call for a possible overdose/cardiac arrest on Jan. 12, 2024; New York City Police Department Detective Didarul Islam, who died from gunshot wounds during a mass shooting in midtown Manhattan on July 28, 2025; and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Bernard Roberts, who left work Oct. 15, 2021, with symptoms of COVID-19 and ultimately died.
Fifty-one officers who died from illnesses resulting from working at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were added to the memorial, bring the total Ground Zero-related deaths there to 555.
Two state Park Police officers – Patrolman Francis Payne and Corporal Howard T. Silsby – were also named on the memorial.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday designated May 5 as Police Memorial Day and directed state landmarks to be lit in blue on Wednesday evening.
“On behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to thank the loved ones of these fallen officers for the sacrifices that they have made in service to our state,” Hochul said.