Eddie DAnna, Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Francis (Buddy) Murnane, an NYPD sergeant and Dongan Hills resident who went decades without calling out sick, has died.
Murnane, a beloved father and grandfather, was just weeks away from his 63rd birthday and the department’s mandatory retirement age.
City Council honors Detective Sgt. “Buddy” Murnane for his 37 years of service with the NYPD without taking a single sick day (Staten Island Advance/William Alatriste)
He was the department’s longest-serving officer, first appointed in 1973, according to an NYPD spokesman.
In 2010, the City Council honored Murnane, who, at the time, had not called out sick to work during his 37-year career. That streak continued until his death.
“If you are the bad guy, the worst of the worst, for the last 37 years Buddy Murnane has been part of the team looking for you to bring you to justice,” then-Councilman James Oddo said during the 2010 ceremony at City Hall in Lower Manhattan. “He has truly put community, city and country above all.”
As a supervising sergeant in the NYPD’s Major Case Squad, Murnane helped to close thousands of cases — from kidnappings to hijackings, to bank robberies and large commercial burglaries. He also served as the commander of a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Police homicide unit that covered Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens.
He had earned dozens of awards, including the Staten Island Officer of the Year, the NYPD Combat Cross, the Medal of Exceptional Merit, the Commendation Medal, five Meritorious Police Medals and 14 Excellent Police Duty Medals, and had been cited by several police departments and prosecutors’ offices in other states.
