Joseph D. Taylor

Joseph D. Taylor was a detective assigned to the 83 Precinct in Brooklyn.

An anonymous caller told a 911 operator that a man named Carlos had held someone up with a shotgun at 14 Linden Street, apartment 4, in Bushwick. Detective Taylor and Police Officer Roy DeSetto were given the assignment, and Police Officers Carl Colletti and Harry Sawick volunteered to back them up. Detective Taylor and his partner reached the apartment first, drew their guns and took positions on either side of the door. When Detective Taylor called out "Police, open up," the door swung open and a man inside fired a shotgun into his chest at point-blank range.

Officer DeSetto returned fire with his own revolver and with Detective Taylor's, wounding the gunman in the foot and killing one of his three companions. The gunman and another man escaped through a window to Gates Avenue, where they hid in nearby buildings; both were soon arrested, and the third companion was found hiding in the apartment. Officers recovered the shotgun and a .32-caliber revolver. Despite efforts by fellow officers to save him, Detective Taylor was pronounced dead at Wyckoff Hospital. Carl Dean, also known as Carl Payne, 22, who lived in the apartment, was arrested for the killing. A bench warrant for his arrest, for failing to appear in court on a weapons charge, had reached the Warrant Division that same day.

Detective Taylor was 34 years old. He received an Inspector's funeral, attended by almost 3,000 officers, friends and family, at the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Williamsburg, with an honor guard of police motorcycles escorting the cortege. He was buried on 2 September 1977, three days after he was shot, at Pinelawn National Cemetery on Long Island. He was survived by his wife, who died in 2011, and a daughter.

Detective Joseph Taylor was shot and killed after he and another officer responded to a call of a man with a firearm inside an apartment at 14 Linden Street in Brooklyn. When Detective Taylor and the other officer arrived, they entered the building with guns drawn and positioned themselves at opposite sides of the apartment door. The officers knocked on the door and announced themselves as police officers. The door suddenly opened and two blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun were fired by the suspect. One blast struck Detective Taylor in the chest, killing him. The other officer emptied his gun and Detective Taylor's gun into the apartment. When the officer entered the apartment he found one suspect dead, another wounded, and two suspects uninjured. It was later determined that the wounded suspect was the man who had fired the shot that killed Detective Taylor. The subject, a 22-year-old reputed drug dealer, should have been in jail. Warrants for failure to appear in court on weapons charges were issued five days earlier. Police received them right after Detective Taylor was killed. Drugs and $5 million dollars were found inside his apartment. He was convicted of murder, three drug charges, and sentenced to 25 years to life. He was paroled on May 21, 2020, and deported. Detective Taylor had served with the New York City Police Department for nine years and was assigned to the 83rd Precinct.