Christopher Philip Rock
Agency patch
Technical Sergeant

Christopher Philip Rock

New York State Police — Albany, NY
Illness
End of Watch December 3, 2023
Age 59
Tour of Duty 26 yrs
The Vigil Panel 182 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Technical Sergeant Chris Rock 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.

Technical Sergeant Rock had served with the New York State Police for 26 years.

September 11, 2001 - The Years After

Technical Sergeant Christopher Philip Rock was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 37 years old that fall.

He died on December 3, 2023 - 22 years and 2 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 59.

He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 38 at New York State Police.

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

He is survived by his wife, mother, brother, nieces, and nephews.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-664C8D4F
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

You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Technical Sergeant Rock gave the New York State Police 26 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of New York. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Technical Sergeant Rock.

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

Agency

Location Albany, NY
Platform Identity nysp.ny.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 3, 2023
Tour of Duty 26 yrs
Age 59
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail 9/11 related illness
Weapon Aircraft; Passenger jet
Offender 19 suicide attackers

Technical Sergeant Christopher Philip Rock 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 NY, 629 of 2,147 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 29.3% of this state's fallen. That is 20.2 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.

At New York State Police, 41 of 171 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 24% of this agency's fallen.

New York State Police
41
of 171 officers
24% Illness
NY — Statewide
629
of 2,147 officers
29.3% Illness
Nationwide
2,974
of 32,508 officers
9.1% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Christopher Philip Rock's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Christopher Philip Rock Compares

Age at End of Watch
59
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.8 years
Years of Service
26
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.9 years

Offender Outcome

19 suicide attackers

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Christopher Philip Rock is highlighted in Dec.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
185
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
181
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
291
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285

Incident Location