Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Reilly was shot and killed while on duty. Patrolman Reilly entered the service of the City of New York as a Patrolman in the Aqueduct Police Force, whose responsibility was to protect and guard the building of a water supply from the Catskill Mountains to the City of New York. He was in this service from 1910 to 1915. He was then appointed Prison Keeper in the Department of Corrections, City of New York, and served at the New York City Reformatory at New Hampton Farms, at the Harts Island Reformatory and other prisons. On March 16th, 1920, he was appointed to the position of Patrolman in the New York City Police Department and continued in such capacity until he died in Bellevue Hospital on February 16th, 1923 after being shot accidentally on the morning of February 13th, 1923. Another officer was turning the hand crank to start his patrol car when he accidentally hit his revolver causing it to dislodge from its holster. When the revolver hit the ground it discharged killing Patrolman Reilly. Patrolman Reilly was assigned to the 21st Precinct. Reilly was survived by his wife and four young children. H
Survivors
Reilly was survived by his wife and four young children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-36C5CE5D- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Patrolman Reilly gave the New York City Police Department 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the New York community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Reilly.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Joseph P. Reilly is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NY, 645 of 2,147 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At New York City Police Department, 283 of 1237 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 22.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joseph P. Reilly's cause is highlighted.
How Joseph P. Reilly Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Joseph P. Reilly is highlighted in Feb.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1,236 officers from New York City Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
