Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant John Laughery died from the AIDS virus after contracting it during a search conducted in November 1983. He was conducting a search of a woman's car for drugs when his hand was punctured by a hypodermic needle under one of the seats. He did not find out about his condition until 1989. Sergeant Laughery had served with the Jersey City Police Department for 18 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-CBBCB4AF- 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.
Sergeant Laughery gave the Jersey City Police Department 18 years.
Thank you for your service to the Jersey City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Laughery.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant John E. Laughery is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NJ, 77 of 646 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 11.9% of this state's fallen. That is 2.8 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At Jersey City Police Department, 2 of 41 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John E. Laughery's cause is highlighted.
How John E. Laughery Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. John E. Laughery is highlighted in Nov.
Others Who Wore This Badge
40 officers from Jersey City Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
