Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John DeRoo was killed when his patrol car struck a tree. At 1:45 am, Officer DeRoo responded to a report of an unconscious man lying in the street when his patrol car struck a tree on a curve on the Montauk Highway. Officer DeRoo died at the scene from his injuries. The call he was responding to was later determined to be unfounded. Officer DeRoo was a United States Coast Guard veteran.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-100EA3BF- 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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Police Officer DeRoo served with the Islip Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Islip community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
John J. DeRoo served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Police Officer John J. DeRoo 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%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John J. DeRoo's cause is highlighted.
How John J. DeRoo Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John J. DeRoo is highlighted in Dec.