Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective Claude Richards was killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks while attempting to rescue the victims trapped in the World Trade Center.
Detective Richards was a U.S Army veteran and had served with the New York City Police Department for 18 years. He was assigned to the Bomb Squad.
September 11, 2001
Detective Claude Daniel Richards was killed at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was 46 years old.
He is one of 72 officers honored here, and one of 23 at New York City Police Department.
Seventy-two law enforcement officers from eight local, state, and federal agencies were killed at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, alongside 343 members of the New York City Fire Department and more than 2,800 civilians. A fourth aircraft went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a law enforcement officer aboard was among the dead.
Officers went into the towers while everyone else was coming out. More than 25,000 people reached safety because they did.
Survivors
He is survived by his three sisters and two brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-8873399E- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Army. One record, 2 gates. Claude is one person.
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Tributes
You went in while everyone else was coming out.
Detective Richards gave the New York City Police Department 18 years.
Thank you for your service to the New York community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Richards.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Claude Daniel Richards served in the U.S. Army (1977â1980) before joining law enforcement.
Detective Claude Daniel Richards is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,759 officers honored here.
In NY, 655 of 2,147 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 30.5% of this state's fallen. That is 30.5 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At New York City Police Department, 538 of 1237 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 43.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Claude Daniel Richards's cause is highlighted.
How Claude Daniel Richards Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Claude Daniel Richards is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Military Service
Claude Daniel Richards served in the U.S. Army (1977–1980) before joining law enforcement.
Visit Claude Daniel Richards’s page on salute.nw →
His full service record — units, decorations, where he served — is kept on salute.nw.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1,236 officers from New York City Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
