Roll of Honor

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Lieutenant

Paul Murphy

New York City Police Department — New York, NY

Illness

End of Watch January 4, 2018

Age 54

Tour of Duty 19 yrs

The Vigil Panel 168 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 1,236

Incident

Lieutenant Paul Murphy 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.

Lieutenant Murphy had served with the NYPD for 19 years.

September 11, 2001 - The Years After

Lieutenant Paul Murphy was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 38 years old that fall.

He died on January 4, 2018 - 16 years and 3 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 54.

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

He is survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NY-7B2497ED
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.
Lieutenant Murphy gave the New York City Police Department 19 years.
Thank you for your service to the New York community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Murphy.

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

Agency

Department New York City Police Department

Location New York, NY

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

Service Record

End of Watch January 4, 2018

Tour of Duty 19 yrs

Age 54

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Cause Detail 9/11 related illness

Weapon Aircraft; Passenger jet

Offender 19 suicide attackers

Lieutenant Paul Murphy 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 City Police Department, 521 of 1237 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 42.1% of this agency's fallen.

New York City Police Department

521

of 1,237 officers

42.1% Illness

NY — Statewide

629

of 2,147 officers

29.3% Illness

Nationwide

2,974

of 32,508 officers

9.1% Illness