Tribute to Murdered Cop, 37 Years After Slaying; Worked in 73rd Precinct
By TOMMY HALLISSEY
Thirty-seven years to the day that Patrolman Robert Denton was slain on a Brooklyn street corner, his brother received his casket flag — which made an odyssey to Charleston, S.C. and back — during a memorial honoring the officer at Brooklyn's 73rd Precinct stationhouse.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James STILL IN THEIR HEARTS: Ronald Denton speaks of his brother, slain Police Officer Robert Denton, outside the 73rd Precinct on the 37th anniversary of his murder while working in Brownsville. Looking on to his left are Lieut. Robert Knoth, a veteran of the 73rd who helped retrieve his coffin flag, which had been in South Carolina, and Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch.

Patrolman's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch, family, friends, co-workers and Police Officers July 24 gathered outside the precinct for a remembrance of the eighth officer killed in the line of duty in 1971. "There is only one disappointment in my life as a Police Officer — that is to not share the good times with my friend Robert Denton," said lifelong pal and retired Police Officer Ronald T. Bellistri. "His life has left an indelible mark on my life."

ROBERT L. DENTON

'Gave His Heart and Soul'

Mr. Bellistri described the friend he knew as Bobby as the best gentleman and finest young man he ever met. "He gave his heart and his soul in everything he did in his life," he said.

Mr. Bellistri took the Police Officer exam with Mr. Denton in 1968. They were both called to join the department, but Mr. Bellistri deferred at first. The two friends got together a short time after Mr. Denton joined the force and, taken by the look of the badge and the gun on Officer Denton's hip, Mr. Bellistri wrote a letter asking to be reconsidered for appointment. Two weeks later, he joined the force.

Mr. Denton was assigned to the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville. Two months shy of his third anniversary on the job, Mr. Denton was working in a radio car on July 24, 1971 when a young man approached and asked how to become a cop. The Patrolman then stopped his car at the corner of Saratoga and Blake to buy a pack of cigarettes. That same young man emerged and stabbed Mr. Denton in the neck with a Bowie knife. His partner, Patrolman Neisa Abraham, called 911, but Mr. Denton succumbed to his injuries at Brookdale Hospital. He was 26 years old.

Years went by but Mr. Denton's brother, a retired U.S. Treasury Agent, still had trouble sleeping. Mr. Denton was far from forgotten, but his coffin flag passed from hand to hand before finding a permanent home at the 73rd Precinct last week. "Apparently, how the story goes is that Robert Denton's wife's mother was cleaning out the attic — she lived in Virginia Beach — and she donated the flag to the Chesapeake Police Department," said NYPD Operations Lieut. Robert Knoth. He got a call about the flag in 2002, but it would be six years until the flag was presented to Mr. Denton's brother.

Mr. Knoth and several others from the 73rd Precinct worked off and on for years to find the flag, which was ultimately mailed to the precinct in an unmarked package. It sat in the commanding officer's closet for a while, because no one knew whose flag it was. "The flag just wanted to come back," said Mr. Knoth.

Ron Denton said he was moved by the effort the precinct put forth to get the flag and set up the belated ceremony. "I'm only sorry our parents aren't here to experience this, because they suffered so much," he said.

Mr. Bellistri said Mr. Denton was likely looking down on the ceremony, proud to be a Police Officer. "I wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would Bob," said his brother.