NYPD Recruits Visit the 9/11 Memorial to Pay Tribute to Fallen Members of the Police Department

A new class of New York City Police Department recruits visited the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Tuesday morning to honor and remember the members of the NYPD who sacrificed their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. This is the third class of NYPD recruits to visit the Memorial and Museum as a part of their training.

About 480 recruits lined up at the South Pool as Probationary Police Officer Anthony Mkwanazi laid a wreath at the panel marking the beginning of the names of NYPD officers lost in the line of duty on 9/11. Mkwanazi is the son of Mark Mkwanazi, a retired detective investigator with the NYPD who died in February 2017 from a 9/11-related illness.

Michael Frazier, executive vice president and deputy director for external affairs at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, addressed the recruits as they assembled in Foundation Hall. Frazier congratulated the group in advance of their graduation from the police academy later this month, and emphasized the crucial partnership between the NYPD and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

Before highlighting the archaeological elements and architectural features surrounding the recruits in Foundation Hall, Frazier took a moment to talk about key artifacts in the Museum’s historical exhibition that spoke to the sacrifice the recruits’ forebears made on 9/11, including a shield and medal rack worn by NYPD Officer Moira Ann Smith, who was one of the 23 officers killed.

“These artifacts are a piece of history from that day—but they also serve as a reminder of the brave and courageous men and women who ran toward those buildings while others ran away,” said Frazier.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff