September 17, 2004

Funeral held for slain Brooklyn cop

As they had done two days earlier for his partner, thousands of police officers from the metropolitan area gathered Friday for the funeral of New York City Detective Robert Parker, both of whom were slain a week ago responding to a domestic dispute in Brooklyn.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and police and fire commissioners Raymond Kelly and Nicholas Scoppetta were among the dignitaries at the Christian Cultural Center in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn.

"Amazing Grace" bellowed from the bagpipes of the NYPD's Emerald Society Pipe and Drum band as Parker's coffin, adorned with a green and white police department flag, was carried through a light drizzle into the service.

Parker, 43, and his partner, 39-year-old detective Patrick Rafferty, died last Friday when a suspect allegedly grabbed Parker's gun in East Flatbush and opened fire on the officers.

The suspect, Marlon Legere, 28, who was shot by Rafferty in both feet during the scuffle with the two detectives, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges Monday, and was ordered held without bail.

The two were posthumously promoted Tuesday to first-grade detective, the New York Police Department's highest detective rank.

The promotion will increase the benefits their families will receive by thousands of dollars a year.

Police and prosecutors said Parker and Rafferty were trying to stop Legere from stealing his mother's car Friday night when he allegedly wrested away Parker's gun and opened fire.

The two were the first to be killed in the line of duty since March 2003, when two undercover detectives from the police department's organized crime control bureau were shot on Staten Island during a sting operation against gun dealers.

Another officer died on duty of a heart attack in January while running to the scene of an arrest.