Detective William Mancusi was appointed to the Department on October 12th , 1922. He died on July 20th, 1934 when the unmarked car he was a passenger in was involved in an accident in Stamford, Connecticut. Detective Mancusi was on his way back from Milford at 4:00 a.m., where he had been questioning a suspect in connection with recent jewelry thefts. News accounts at the time said 41 year old Bill Mancusi was the best-loved and most popular detective in the Department.
During his career, Detective Mancusi was singled out 16 times for department recognition. He solved the $12,000 robbery of the South Side branch of the Huguenot Trust Company, and also had a hand in nearly every important case during his career.
On the day of his funeral, hundreds of mourners lined the streets to pay tribute to the ace investigator. Police from around the country crowded around the Church of the Holy Name for the requiem mass. Four platoons of police stood at attention at Police Headquarters as his funeral cortege made its way from Detective Mancusi’s home to the church and on to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery accompanied by pallbearers, a color guard and a motorcycle escort.
Each year, as part of National Police Week each May, the City of New Rochelle remembers the 8 New Rochelle police officers who died in the line of duty.