NYPD Recruit Graduates to Carry Family's Legacy of Dad and Cousin, Fallen Officers

Law enforcement isn’t just a job for NYPD recruit Robert Castioni. It’s the family business.

“I have my cousin, Kevin Gillespie. I have my father. I have an uncle, two uncles, one in Nassau [County], one was in NYPD,” Castioni, 28, said. “I have multiple cousins, as well. Other than Kevin, all together, it’s around like nine family members who were in law enforcement. Most [are] retired now. Only two are still active. My mom was not happy about me being a cop initially, but then she came around.”

Castioni is one of 612 recruits graduating from the Police Academy on Thursday. His cousin, Gillespie, was shot and killed in the line of duty in the Bronx in 1996, and his father, Robert Castioni, a Homeland Security officer, died recently from a 9/11-related cancer.

In other words, it’s in his blood.

“From when I was born, joining law enforcement was always something that was always brought up in family parties,” Castioni said. “And my family is very close. So a lot of my cousins, I consider brother [and] sisters, and a lot of them were telling stories throughout holidays, and just talking with them. It’s always the topic of conversation about how the job was, and it always fascinated me.”

One name that came up often was Kevin Gillespie, who died before Castioni was born. Gillespie, 33, and his partner had stopped a stolen car in the Bronx, when the men inside opened fire as they approached the vehicle.

One shot struck Gillespie in the shoulder, above his vest. The bullet went straight down his torso and struck several organs. He died an hour later at a local hospital.

Gillespie had been on the job for four years.

“I never got the privilege to meet him,” Castioni said. “I was born in ’97; he was killed March ’96. However, the impact of what happened is something that I knew at a very young age. My father would always tell me stories about when he saw Kevin — how happy he was to finally get on the job and how he was so glad to be a cop. He worked hard, and what happened, happened.”

That sense of purpose was reinforced when Castioni was just a child, during the attacks on 9/11.

“I do have, as a 3-year-old, vivid memories of seeing it on TV because I knew my father was there,” he recalled. “Having that fresh in my mind and seeing what happened on TV impacted me. I was lucky that my father came home that day. Years later, now we deal with the repercussions. Sadly, he has passed away from his efforts.

“When he passed away, all the support we got from everybody was incredible,” Castioni continued. “And we were lucky enough last year to go to Washington for the National Police Officers Memorial and put his name on the wall. And just seeing that and hearing the names ring out, and seeing [officers’] kids younger than me, that really touched me. And then, it was always in the back of my mind to become a police officer, but then it was really, like, I want to do this.”

While Castioni waited patiently for his chance to do “this,” he worked for more than a decade as a bartender in Long Island and Queens.

“I met a lot of people, including police officers,” he said. “Even then, as a bartender, you act as some sort of support for certain people. They need someone to talk to and you help them.”

Now, as he prepares to hit the streets, Castioni says he feels his father and cousin with him.

”It means the world to carry on their legacy,” he said. “I know they’re behind me everywhere I go.”

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