The DEA Honor Roll
Official Line of Duty Deaths
Nicholas F. Ortiz
Rank: Detective First Grade
Shield Number: 3208
Command: NYPD/FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force
Date of Death: 04/05/2021
Cause of Death: Illnesses contracted as a result of work on the rescue and recovery from the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001.
Nicholas F. Ortiz joined the NYPD on June 7, 1968. He was promoted to Detective on November 15, 1973, and earned second grade on October 26, 1990. He earned his first grade honors on August 29, 2002, and after an astounding run with the Police Department, Detective Ortiz retired out of the elite NYPD/FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force on January 13, 2008, just shy of 40 years serving the City of New York.
Because of his extensive work on the rescue and recovery from the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, Det. Ortiz took ill in retirement and eventually passed away from illnesses related to his work on April 5, 2021. His death was deemed in the line of duty.
Det. First Grade Nicholas F. Ortiz was survived by his wife and two children.
He is buried at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, NY.