On April 29, 2023, the DEA lost a very special member: Det. Troy Patterson, who was shot in the head while trying to thwart being robbed on January 16, 1990. His survival at the time of the shooting was deemed extremely precarious. The bullet passed through his right ear, went through his brain, and lodged between his left ear and his skull. Doctors predicted that if Patterson lived, he would be blind.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Det. Patterson went to Erasmus Hall High School. His love of music, especially jazz, drew him to the trumpet and he traveled, including overseas, to perform. He amassed a large collection of records and tapes, and was engaged to be married at the time of the shooting.
For 33 years, Det. Patterson remained in a catatonic state, but remained assigned to the NYPD. At the time of the incident, Patterson was off-duty and washing his car outside 50 Jefferson Avenue in front of Public School #3, between Bedford and Franklin Avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn where he lived nearby with his mother and his aunt. At approximately 5:40 p.m., he was approached by a group of teenagers, one of whom was armed. They attempted to rob Patterson but, without warning, one of them shot Patterson once in the head. Then the perps fled on foot.
When responding Officers found the 27-year-old Patterson, they discovered his wallet, shield, and his service revolver still holstered around his waist. Ironically, according to his colleagues, taking guns off the street was Patterson’s specialty, and he had racked up several commendations for his service. He was appointed to the NYPD on July 1, 1983, and had previously served in the 71st Precinct. He was a Patrol Officer in the 60th Precinct in Coney Island at the time of the shooting.
By January 26, 1990, Detectives had arrested three young men — Vincent Robbins, 20, Darren Crawford, 17, and the trigger man, 15-year-old Tracy Clark, who claimed he needed $20 of the $37 entry fee to play in the United Brooklyn Basketball League. For $20, he had put Troy Patterson in an incapacitated state, where Patterson remained for more than three decades until he passed away.
At the time of the shooting, Patterson’s son Troy, Jr. was five years old. He now has two daughters, Troy’s granddaughters: Tramya McKenzie and Riley Max. Patterson’s mother Catherine, who nursed him for 17 years until she was felled by multiple sclerosis, passed away at age 63 in 2007. Since that time, Troy was attended to by his aunts, the late Dorothy Patterson, and Mae Patterson, along with many other loving family members.
The juvenile perpetrators did their time and were eventually released from prison, but Patterson — the once vibrant Officer taking illegal guns off the streets — received no parole from his wheelchair, living without sight or the ability to speak or move by himself.
Despite his injuries and his condition, Troy Patterson remained a New York Police Department Officer assigned to the Employee Relations Section, and was promoted to Detective on August 1, 2016, along with nine other Officers who were seriously injured in the line of duty. Family members say he did have the ability to register recognition of his mother, his son, other family members, and his nurses. He remained at JFK Hartwyck Rehabilitation Center at Oak Tree Long-term Care Facility in Edison, New Jersey for most of his life. Every year, on January 16th, Patterson’s friends, family, and colleagues hold a vigil at the location where he was shot to say a prayer for him. And, the organization 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care annually sponsored a birthday celebration for him. Det. Patterson is buried at Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. He was eulogized with a May 1, 2023, cover story by the New York Daily News.
Det. Patterson’s life and death serve as a constant reminder of the horrific toll that gun violence takes on our profession, on our City, on our State, and on our nation. In 2024, Det. Patterson’s name was added to the police memorial walls. On October 12, 2024, the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn, NY 11216, was named “Det. Troy D. Patterson Way” in his memory.
