Roll of Honor

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Detective

Thomas Santoro

New York City Police Department — New York, NY

Illness

End of Watch July 21, 2019

Age 53

The Vigil Panel 170 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 1,236

Incident

Detective Thomas Santoro died as the result of cancer that he developed following his assignment to the search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.

Detective Santoro is survived by his wife, two children, and sisters.

September 11, 2001 - The Years After

Detective Thomas Santoro was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 36 years old that fall.

He died on July 21, 2019 - 17 years and 10 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 53.

He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 450 at New York City Police Department.

The most recent of these deaths was October 24, 2025.

Officers who worked the search, rescue, and recovery at the World Trade Center site breathed contaminated air for weeks and months afterward. Many developed cancers and respiratory disease, and they have gone on dying of it ever since.

Seventy-two officers were killed on the morning itself. Hundreds more have died in the years that followed. They are honored here together, because the same attack killed them all. With some it simply took longer.

Survivors

Detective Santoro is survived by his wife, two children, and sisters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NY-9777E264
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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Tributes

You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Detective Santoro served with the New York City Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the New York community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Santoro.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department New York City Police Department

Type Police Department

Location New York, NY

Platform Identity nypd.newyork.ny.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 21, 2019

Age 53

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Cause Detail 9/11 related illness

Weapon Aircraft; Passenger jet

Detective Thomas Santoro is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 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.

New York City Police Department

538

of 1,237 officers

43.5% Illness

NY — Statewide

655

of 2,147 officers

30.5% Illness

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Illness