Click here for Greater Long Island newsletters. Click here to download the iPhone app. Or follow Greater Oyster Bay on Instagram.
John Kennedy spent nearly half a century in service to Nassau County — first as a beat cop, then climbing every rung to 2nd deputy police commissioner.
He retired in 2002. Then he became a judge, a labor arbitrator, a Crime Stoppers director, a legal adviser to a pipe band and a research partner to one of Long Island’s most celebrated novelists.
Kennedy in fact was still working when he died.
The Bayville resident passed away on May 19. He was 88.
This week, the Nassau County Police Department designated his passing as a 9/11-related line of duty death — Kennedy was a first-responder a quarter-century ago at Ground Zero in Manhattan.
Kennedy joined the Nassau County Police Department on Jan. 20, 1958, as a young officer from Brooklyn, and spent the next 44 years rising through its ranks before retiring as 2nd deputy commissioner in 2002.
Retirement from the police force did little to slow him down.
Kennedy went on to serve as director of Crime Stoppers and as attorney for the Nassau County Police Emerald Society Pipe Band. He held the position of associate judge for the Village of Bayville and spent 23 years as a respected labor arbitrator with the UFCW, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the American Arbitration Association.
Kennedy was also a lifelong learner, earning a master’s degree from LIU C.W. Post and a law degree from Hofstra University.
Trusted adviser to Nelson DeMille
Kennedy also had a lesser-known, behind-the-scene connection to Long Island’s literary world. Kennedy provided research and technical assistance to bestselling author Nelson DeMille, whose acclaimed John Corey thriller series drew deeply on the landscape and culture of the Island.
“John was a great and long-time friend to my father, and a trusted advisor and researcher,” the late-author’s son Alex told Greater Long Island. “He was an early reader of my father’s manuscripts and assisted him in is depictions of the inner workings and culture of law enforcement.”
Alex DeMille remembered how comforting Kennedy was following his father’s death in 2024.
“After my father’s passing in 2024, he reached out immediately, and was integral in setting up a wonderful send-off for my father at his funeral,” he said.
Nassau PBA President Tommy Shevlin extended condolences to Kennedy’s family, friends, and those who served alongside him.
“His time as a Nassau County Police officer, detective and assistant commissioner is commendable,” Shevlin said. “His post-career work serving as a judge in Bayville and his work with Crime Stoppers is a testament to his life of dedicated service. May he rest in peace.”
The Nassau County Police Department said in a statement, “Our hearts, prayers and condolences go out to the entire Kennedy family and their friends during this time of grief.”
Services for John G. Kennedy
Visiting hours will be held Friday, May 29, from 4-8 p.m. at Oyster Bay Funeral Home, 261 South St. in Oyster Bay.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for Saturday, May 30, at 10 a.m. at St. Gertrude Roman Catholic Church, 28 School St. in Bayville. Interment will follow at Locust Valley Cemetery.
Top: John G. Kennedy (courtesy of the Nassau County Police Department)
Your Long Island news, delivered.
Subscribe to the GLI Newsletter — its free
