Cancer Claims 9/11 Cop

PERRY CHIARAMONTE and MURRAY WEISS
NY Post
Wednesday May 09, 2007

A detective on Mayor Bloomberg's security detail died yesterday of cancer - an illness his family and union officials believe can be traced to his work in the toxic debris at Ground Zero after 9/11.

Detective Kevin Hawkins, 42, died at 2 a.m. at the hospice unit of Calvary Hospital in The Bronx, said Vic Cipulla, vice president of the Detectives Endowment Association.

He'd been diagnosed with kidney cancer in September.

Cipulla said Hawkins and his family had filed a claim that would seek verification that his illness was in the line of duty, making him eligible for a disability pension.

"Members have come down with various forms of cancer and there are many still to come," he said.

The claim was prompted by a law - passed in 2005 and named after Detective James Zadroga, who died of lung disease after his work at Ground Zero - that ensures public workers can get a disability pension if their illness is traced to the recovery effort.

Hawkins worked at Ground Zero for two months.

"Kevin brought a quiet reserve and a sense of duty to everything he did," a statement from Bloomberg said. "He fought this disease with the same integrity and strength that he displayed serving our country and our city."

Hawkins, who joined the department in 1987, also served two tours of duty in the Gulf War in 1990.

"He was a member of the United States Marine Corps who served his nation in war, as he did the Police Department, with pride and dedication," Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Marie, and three children.