Memorials

On September 11, 2001, 37 members of the Port Authority Police Department made the ultimate sacrifice during the rescue of tens of thousands of people trapped in the doomed buildings that comprised the World Trade Center complex, which was owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Contrary to popular belief, few Port Authority officers were located in the complex when the attacks occurred, but instead responded from as far away as Hicksville, Long Island, and Newark, New Jersey. The Port Authority's elite Police Emergency Service Unit and its PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson rail system) Police Command both were headquartered just minutes away, across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey, and, consequently, suffered the greatest losses of any single police units. Hundreds of members of the PAPD responded that morning, from all Port Authority Police commands located throughout the metropolitan region, and almost every command suffered at least one loss. The department suffered losses from almost every police rank, including the Director of Public Safety/Superintendent of Police. Remarkably, the department's responding detective units were spared any losses that fateful day.

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