The New Rochelle Police Department is reeling from the news that veteran Police Office Kevin McAllister died unexpectedly last week.
According to area police, McAllister died just off the Taconic Parkway in Columbia County, late last week.
“The New Rochelle Police Department and the City of New Rochelle are saddened over the sudden loss of Police Officer Kevin McAllister”, said Police Commissioner Patrick J. Carroll. “Officer McAllister was a 17-year veteran of the department and a recipient of one commendation during his tenure. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time.”
UPDATE: Official from NRPD
“Police Officer McAllister was laid to rest today in a cemetery in Brewster, N.Y. A small memorial service was held prior to his burial.”
Developing…
unconfirmed report that
unconfirmed report that Mr.McAllister committed suicide by shooting himself.
Yes, I know
that was intended to be the subtext of the use of term “unexpectedly”.
guess I’d better dust off my
guess I’d better dust off my crystal ball better, huh?
I am not going to delete any comments but…
…I did not see it as necessary to spell it out. I figure as a courtesy to the family it is better to leave the obvious point unsaid.
I trust readers know what is meant when they read a police officer died unexpectedly just of the Taconic and there is no mention of a car crash.
Here is a thought. If you want you can delete you first comment I can remove the other comments.
Some readers may wonder why, if I feel this way, that I don’t just delete all the comments myself. This is a core issue for running a blog and as a general rule, unless the commenter overtly violates some policy, I do not delete comments.
Sorry but…
your last word of “developing” led me to believe that you were unclear as to the “facts”…and to further clarify, it must not have been an obvious point. And if we really want to give a courtesy to the family, maybe it was better left unmentioned..just a thought.
it is a judgement call
It is certainly news in New Rochelle when any public employee dies suddenly and more so when it involves a police officer so I felt there was no option to not report on this matter at all it was just a matter of degree.
As to “developing”, there may be more information coming from the local police upstate and regarding details of any memorial ceremony.
A matter of degree
It is imperative that the media understand there is more to the proper reporting of suicides in certain groups than sensationalism. Research groups are trying to track police suicides to determine both numbers and causes and, frankly, police agencies are less than helpful about letting the news out. We must rely heavily on the media. Far too many departments consider suicides to be an “embarrassment to the badge” and wish them silenced.
We’re also finding that some of these suicides are related to the nightmarish traumas of the job–and the families are left without the line of duty benefits they deserve.
We hope you will, as stated, keep your readers posted on such important developments as these.
Thank you for allowing the real tragedy of Officer Kevin McAllister to be known. As police officers, we understand and are trying to change “the culture.”
In time.
Deleting Comments
A person can not delete his comments and can only edit them if no one has replied to it.
Thanks..I thought it was
Thanks..I thought it was just me missing something
my bad
There are three levels of membership on the site — authenticated, editor and admin. Only editors and admin can delete comments but they can delete ANY and ALL comments.
At this point the subject is moot but I am interested to elevate more people to editor status based on their status as regular, reliable contributors. Let me give more thought to this issue.