Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective William McCaffery succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained as he and other officers pursued a car thief. He was off duty when he observed other officers pursue the vehicle. He dropped off his family and assisted the other officers chase the suspect on foot. During the pursuit Detective McCaffery was struck in the back by a ricochet bullet that had been fired by another officer.
Survivors
Detective McCaffery was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-E22E54E9- 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.
Detective McCaffery served with the Jersey City Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Jersey City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective McCaffery.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective William McCaffery 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 NJ, 258 of 646 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.9% of this state's fallen. That is 8.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Jersey City Police Department, 21 of 41 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 51.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William McCaffery's cause is highlighted.
How William McCaffery Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William McCaffery is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
40 officers from Jersey City Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
