NEW YORK (AP) — Outside the Bronx mosque where a New York City police officer was eulogized last week, a group of officers in their formal navy blue uniforms solemnly hung a banner bearing the young officer’s photograph and the name of his fraternity, the Bangladeshi American Police Association.
Didarul Islam — one of four people killed in the July 28 shooting at the Manhattan office tower housing the NFL’s headquarters — was the NYPD’s first Bangladeshi American officer killed in the line of duty.
His funeral underscored the fertile recruiting ground the department has found in the city’s thriving Bangladeshi community. More than 1,000 of the NYPD’s roughly 33,000 uniformed members are Bangladeshi Americans, according to the association. Another 1,500 people of Bangladeshi heritage are