In the summer of 2019, a decorated member of the New York Police Department, Steven Silks, a 62-year-old male, was nearing the end of a long and distinguished career. With nearly four decades of service to the city, the Deputy Chief of Patrol Borough Queens North was just weeks away from his mandatory retirement. However, the anticipation of a well-deserved rest was tragically cut short.
On the evening of Wednesday, June 5, 2019, first responders were called to a quiet street in Forest
Hills, Queens. There, inside an unmarked police vehicle, they discovered Steven Silks with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, but the injury proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead. The location of the incident was just a short distance from his office at the 112th Precinct station house.
The news of his death sent shockwaves through the NYPD and the wider community. Colleagues remembered him as a dedicated and well-respected leader, a man who was admired by many throughout his extensive career. His death was ruled a suicide, and as such, there was no criminal investigation involving arrests or the pursuit of suspects. The narrative of his final days was one of a dedicated public servant on the cusp of retirement, a story that ended in an unexpected and heartbreaking loss.
