John J. Reicherter
Agency patch
Sergeant

John J. Reicherter

Cardiac
End of Watch June 1, 1964
Age 57
Tour of Duty 33 yrs
The Vigil Panel 99 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sergeant John Reicherter suffered a fatal heart attack as he and another officer struggled with a man at the World's Fair's Denmark Pavilion.

They had responded to the pavilion in response to a fight and discovered one of the displays had been broken. As they investigated the incident a subject came out of a bathroom with a bloody hand. As the officers attempted to question him the man became violent and struck the other officer in the head with a phone.

Sergeant Reicherter collapsed as they tried to subdue the subject. The man was arrested and charged with felonious assault.

Sergeant Reicherter had served with the New York World's Fair Police Department for two years and had previously served with the New York City Police Department for 31 years.

Sgt. Reicherter, On today, the 60th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of New York City. And to your Family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

BPA Mike Casey United States Border Patrol(Retired) June 1st, 2024

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-DC9118FA
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

33 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Reicherter gave the New York World's Fair Police Department 33 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Flushing community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Reicherter.

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

Agency

Location Flushing, NY
Platform Identity nywfpd.queens.ny.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 1, 1964
Tour of Duty 33 yrs
Age 57
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac
Cause Detail Heart attack
Weapon Person
Offender Arrested

Sergeant John J. Reicherter is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In NY, 99 of 2,147 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

New York World's Fair Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Cardiac
NY — Statewide
99
of 2,147 officers
4.6% Cardiac
Nationwide
1,306
of 32,508 officers
4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John J. Reicherter'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 John J. Reicherter Compares

Age at End of Watch
57
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years
Years of Service
33
This officer
Avg for Cardiac: 15.6 years

Offender Outcome

Arrested

When Cardiac Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John J. Reicherter is highlighted in Jun.

Jan
124
Feb
105
Mar
99
Apr
116
May
115
Jun
95
Jul
94
Aug
104
Sep
109
Oct
121
Nov
113
Dec
111

Incident Location