Uncovering the Untold Story of NYPD Detective Joe Petrosino: 115 Years Later
Remembering a Hero: Joe Petrosino’s Legacy Lives On
Members of the NYPD top brass, New York City dignitaries, and family members of Lt. Detective Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino gathered at his grave in Calvary Cemetery in Queens on Tuesday to mark 115 years since his murder.
Joe Petrosino was an immigrant who believed in the American dream and worked his way up the ranks of the NYPD to become the first Italian detective. He led a special task force called the Italian Squad, which was hellbent on taking down the Mafia and a group known as the Black Hand.
The Mysterious Murder of Joe Petrosino in Sicily
On March 12, 1909, while on a secret mission in Palermo, Sicily, Petrosino was murdered by members of the island’s criminal underworld. He remains the only active NYPD officer ever killed in the line of duty while overseas. His death remains unsolved. “Mai dimenticare,” which means “never forget” in Italian, Monsignor David Cassato says, adding that is the creed every Italian American and NYPD member should live by to honor the late detective’s legacy.
A Legacy of Honor: Paying Tribute to Petrosino’s Contributions
At the cemetery, hundreds of people gathered around Petrosino’s towering headstone, which also includes the names of his wife and daughter, as well as his granddaughter, Susan Burke, who died last year. “It is a sense of accomplishment that we still remember 115 years later,” Robert Fonti, president of the Lt. Joseph Petrosino Association in America, tells Inside Edition Digital. “We are going to continue this. It isn’t for the life of Joe Petrosino or how he died, but the dash in between—how he lived and what he did and what he ended up giving us.”
Legacy of Courage: The Impact of Petrosino’s Fight Against Injustice
Petrosino upheld law and order and wanted equal justice for all in an era of great discrimination by his people and from his people, experts say. While Petrosino was rising in the ranks of the NYPD, the Italian immigrant community across America was being harassed by an underworld group known as the Black Hand, which extorted Italian business owners. Petrosino fought the Black Hand as well as the rise of the Mafia in New York City.
An Enduring Heritage: Keeping Petrosino’s Memory Alive
Retired Judge George Grasso says thinking about Petrosino’s legacy keeps him “energized.” “He had to overcome tremendous discrimination not only because he was an Italian American but an Italian American who immigrated from Italy. He overcame that discrimination and bent the curve for his community,” Grasso says. Petrosino was just 48 at the time of his murder, but his life’s work endures.