Cranford Police Honor Patrolman Killed In The Line Of Duty

CRANFORD, NJ - The Cranford Police Department is honoring Patrolman Robert F. Hand who died in the line of duty during a motor vehicle pursuit on Feb. 11, 1975. For this week, uniformed Cranford officers will wear black mourning bands across their badges in remembrance of their fallen brother and all police cars display a memorial badge in his honor all year, police said.

According to police, Hand was killed in the line of duty while chasing was a car driven by an 18-year-old Rahway resident. The chase began in Cranford and continued onto Westfield Avenue in Clark, where the Hand lost control of his car and crashed into the storefront of a glass and mirror shop. While the suspect was arrested a short time later, Hand was taken to Rahway Hospital where he was pronounced dead, leaving behind a wife and four young children, police said.

Officials noted Hand was an Air Force veteran who served in the Korean Conflict and he received an honorable discharge in 1950. He was sworn in as a Cranford Patrolman in 1956 and received numerous commendations during his 19 year career. In 1968 he was issued a commendation for breaking up a large scale narcotics ring that resulted in the arrest of 10 drug dealers, and in 1969 he was commended for arresting a child sex offender, according to officials.

Hand was active in the Cranford Elks Lodge and VFW Post 335 and had been elected by his fellow officers to serve as president of the Cranford PBA.

"Patrolman Hand will always be remembered as a servant leader who had deep ties to our community. His was nicknamed ‘The Senator’ because he was known to stop and talk to all of the store owners, shoppers, and everyone else who he saw on his beat. His peers would joke that it would take him half of his shift to walk just one block because of his desire to help people and start conversations with everyone he saw," police posted on Facebook.

(Photos courtesy of the Cranford Police Department)

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