Police Officer Jerome Mark Patrick Dominguez

Jerome Dominguez, 37, of Holtsville, was a member of the New York Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit. He was last seen around the 20th floor of the north tower, and was heard on radio dispatches telling police not to enter the building because it was unstable. Dominguez had finished his shift when the first plane hit the World Trade Center but he immediately went to the site. His brother, Frank of the Bronx, who was near the World Trade Center when it collapsed, said he knew Dominguez would go there. One of his specialties was extricating people caught in wrecks or debris and he held the police department record of saving the most lives: 92. “I knew that wherever he was, he would try to be there after the first tower was hit,” Frank Dominguez said. Highly trained and utterly dedicated to the elite SWAT team, Dominguez was like “a professional Batman,” his brother said. “All he wanted to do since he was little was to be a policeman, especially on the SWAT team,” his brother said. Taking care of others in high risk situations was a role he had adopted early in life. “When I was little, I was obnoxious [but] I knew he would protect me – even if he would curse me out later,” said his brother, who was two years younger. Even in the moments when he wasn’t working, Dominguez went for high adrenalin activities. At one point he had worked for the Highway Patrol, which dovetailed with his love for motorcycles. He also was an enthusiastic and competent scuba diver. “The SWAT team was the perfect place for him,” his brother said. After Jerome’s death, Frank Dominguez decided to study Islam at Yale University and became interested in comparative religion. “I think I became very interested in religion, in how it’s abused and also the positive ways in which it has lived.” – Ridgely Ochs