As the NYPD’s newest class of police officers graduated from the academy at Madison Square Garden on March 9, the family of newly-minted officer Janine Comodo — one of the 968 newly sworn-in recruits — were particularly proud. Policing seems to be part of the Comodo family’s DNA: Janine is the fourth of Deputy Chief Salvatore Comodo’s five children to join New York City’s finest.
Her brothers, Detective Salvatore Comodo Jr. and Officer Joseph Comodo, followed in their dad’s footsteps in 2016 and 2025, respectively, and her sister, Officer Dana Comodo, joined the NYPD in 2021.
The only sibling who didn’t join the NYPD is their sister Michelle, a labor and delivery nurse at Maimonides Medical Center — though her husband is a cop, NYPD Detective Christopher Mallette. Additionally, Dana is engaged to NYPD Officer Anthony Chiccetti, and nine of their extended family members are either active or retired NYPD cops.
Salvatore is the executive officer at Patrol Borough Manhattan South, and, as his kids pointed out, a role model of exemplary police work. He joined the NYPD on Jan. 4, 1984, making him the current longest-serving uniformed member of the NYPD. After 42 years of service, he’ll be forced to retire at the end of the year because of the NYPD’s mandatory retirement age.
The patriarch grew up in Dyker Heights and still lives in the neighborhood, where he and his wife of 45 years, Theresa, raised their five children and now tend to their eight grandchildren. He told Brooklyn Paper he joined the NYPD because he was inspired by one of his cousins, a transit cop; and as an outdoor kind of guy, he also never envisioned himself working a nine-to-five job.
“It’s been a great life experience,” Salvatore said about his 42 years of service. “Me and this other inspector are the only ones left from our class in January of ‘84. I think that class had to be over 1,200 people hired at that time. He wants me to retire, so he can be number one on the list.”
The 62-year-old always told his kids that law enforcement was the “greatest profession” they could enter, and touts himself as the NYPD’s “biggest recruiter,” even encouraging his kids’ friends and random strangers to take the NYPD entrance exam, strongly believing the agency offers a “niche” for everyone.
“I want to see all the good kids come on this job, because we need them,” Salvatore said. “They are going to be the foundation. They are going to be the ones to carry the torch.”
For Salvatore, wearing the NYPD uniform is an honor and a privilege. He said one of the golden rules he instilled in his kids was to treat others with respect and to show compassion at every call, no matter the circumstances, adding, “I want people to do the right thing when they know they’re not being watched; that shows true character and integrity, and that’s what this job is all about: character, integrity, empathy, sympathy, compassion, and building bridges.”
Janine told Brooklyn Paper she joined the NYPD because she wanted to carry on the family’s legacy of serving the public.
“I also wanted to help people. I also always heard [my family’s] experiences, so I wanted to follow in their footsteps and do the same thing, and help others the way they have [done],” Janine shared, adding that her dad taught them that respect is earned.
“You treat others with respect, you will receive it in return,” Janine said. “Taking care of people and treating everyone the same, it doesn’t matter which rank they are, even if they are not in law enforcement, you treat everybody with respect. And that goes a long way.”
Her sister Dana, who is assigned to the 1st Precinct in Manhattan, said their dad taught them that integrity was an important part of police work.
“Doing the right thing when no one’s looking, it’ll get you so far in this job,” Dana said. “I’ve had so many circumstances where I’ve done the right thing, and it’s been nice and rewarding to get good feedback. Just having integrity and leading with your heart first, and just making sure you come home safe every day, that’s a big thing for us.”
Twenty-four-year-old Joseph, assigned to the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, pointed out that their dad is never one to take shortcuts; everything he accomplished was done thoroughly and with great care.
“He always made sure that everything was to a T, not just on the job,” Joseph said, adding that their dad always stressed that, as members of the NYPD, they were part of “something bigger than themselves.”
Janine’s husband Christopher Mallette, a former FDNY EMT now assigned to NYPD Emergency Service Squad 05 in Staten Island; and the chief’s future son-in-law, Anthony Chiccetti, who works on the the 7th Precinct Detectives Squad, told Brooklyn Paper that Salvatore played an instrumental part in their decision to join the NYPD and is a mentor.
“[Sal Sr.] became a father figure to me in 2018 because I lost my dad, and he kind of took over that role as the guy who’s going to take care of me and give me advice for the rest of my life. And he’s been absolutely amazing in that aspect,” Mallette said.
Chiccetti, a former corrections officer, said Salvatore always gave everyone a fair chance.
“He treats everybody equally. He doesn’t show anybody any type of favoritism,” he said. It doesn’t matter if you’re family, if you’re a friend, if you show up and you work hard, he tries his best to always do the right thing by everybody.”
While it can be tempting to “talk shop” at family gatherings with so many cops in the family, 35-year-old Salvatore Jr., who is assigned to the Intelligence Bureau, said his dad never brought the challenges of the job home, successfully separating work and family life.
“[My dad] obviously embodies what it means to become a police officer in his private life and at home. But one of the things I admired so much was that he left the job at the job,” Salvatore Jr. said. “When he came home, he was Dad. We try to shoot some stories around, but my dad doesn’t want to say too much, because we’ve got the kids, and the wives deal with it enough. We don’t want to overwhelm them with cops talk all the time.”
The “kids” say their parents are their greatest support system. Their mother, Theresa, told Brooklyn Paper that people gasp and express concern when they learn that her husband and most of her kids are on the force. Maintaining a positive attitude is key, Theresa noted.
“It’s a job. They do it well. They are trained very well by my husband, and I’m good to go. I just go along in life very optimistically,” she said.
Among the many reasons as to why Salvatore hasn’t retired yet is because he wants to be around his kids and work detail with them as long as possible. He hopes that Janine will be assigned to Manhattan South so he can supervise her directly.
“That would be a different twist on things from supervising her at home. She would have to salute me. That’s what I want. I want a salute from her,” he joked. “My daughter, Dana, doesn’t salute me when I walk into the station house. Everybody else jumps to attention, but she doesn’t. So Janine hopefully does better than Dana did.”
