NYPD adding officers who died from 9/11-related illnesses to memorial

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) on Friday will add the names of 47 police officers who have died due to 9/11 related illnesses to a memorial commemorating those who lost their lives in the attack. 

“All 47 of those lost are casualties of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that shocked the world,” wrote NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill in an ABC News op-ed. 

{mosads}”While more than 3,000 Americans were killed in the devastating flurry of events in a single day, few then imagined that Americans would still be stricken by — and dying from — 9/11-related illnesses almost 18 years later,” he added.

In 2018, 15 officers died from cancer and other illnesses that were found to have been caused by their work on or after Sept. 11. O’Neill wrote that more than 500 officers have or had 9/11-related cancers.

He also asked Congress in the piece to restore the Victims Compensation Fund “for as long as it takes and as much as it costs” to help first responders and their loved ones. 

“We know that the names of fallen cops from 9/11 that we will add to our Police Memorial wall on Friday, won’t be our last,” he wrote.