Retired NYPD Chief Joseph Michael Herbert, whose 38 years as one of New York’s Finest included the arrest of the notorious “New York Zodiac Killer,” died in his Rockaway Beach home on Sept. 30.
The hero cop was 68.
“He was the best boss I ever worked for and the sharpest detective I ever met,” retired homicide Detective Louie Savarese said of Herbert. “He lived and breathed the job, and the only thing he loved more than the NYPD was his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Kristen.
“It was an honor and privilege to work for and with him,” Savarese said.
A Brooklyn native, Herbert joined the NYPD in 1981 at the age of 23 — and shot up through the ranks to make detective in just five years — earning the Medal of Valor in 1985.
Among his career highlights was the arrest in 1996 of Heriberto Seda, the Zodiac serial killer who gunned down three innocent New Yorkers and wounded half a dozen others in Brooklyn and Queens.
Seda, who is currently serving a 235-year sentence at the upstate Clinton Correctional Facility, earned the moniker by targeting victims with specific zodiac signs and the alignment of the stars.
The killer’s bust was just one of Herbert’s many achievements on the job.
Affectionately nicknamed “Pork Chop” by the rank and file, he was assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force following the terror attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
He held the rank of deputy chief and commanding officer when he retired in 2017.
“Joe’s command of crime conditions and criminals was unrivaled in our department,” former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told The Post. “His word at compstat was considered gospel.
“He was a wonderful man with little ego and a great colleague,” Boyce added.
An avid New York Rangers fan, Herbert enjoyed retirement in Rockaway Beach, doting over his granddaughter and working on autobiography, his family said.
“He brought calm to every room, met challenges with sharp wit, stood by friends with loyalty, and lived each day with love and integrity,” according to his obituary.
A wake will be held Monday from 2 to 4 p.m., and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Denis S. O’Connor Funeral Home in Far Rockaway, with a funeral mass at St. Francis De Sales Church and burial at Resurrection Cemetery on Staten Island, the funeral home said.
His family asks that contributions be made in to the First Responder’s Children’s Foundation.
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