NYPD Captain Conor McDonald, the son of NYC police hero Steven McDonald, was promoted to deputy inspector with the department.
The promotion to deputy inspector came Friday for Captain Conor McDonald, 38, who has been carrying his father’s legacy through the NYPD ranks.
McDonald has served as a captain at the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information since January 2025.
The timing of the promotion caps a profound and bittersweet period for the McDonald family.
Just two weeks earlier, on July 16,
the police academy was officially renamed on July 16, exactly 42 years to the day after Detective McDonald first entered the Academy as a recruit.
The ceremony was attended by Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, NYPD leadership, and members of the McDonald family, including Steven’s widow, Patti Ann, and his son, Captain Conor McDonald.
At that July 16 event, Conor reflected on his relationship with his father and the weight of carrying his story forward.
“Him being there all the time and just following my life and making sure that I stayed on the straight and narrow, and also understanding, although what happened to him was an awful thing, love transcends all,” Conor McDonald told amNewYork.
He also spoke about what the academy’s renaming means for future generations of officers.
“Most of us who personally knew my father won’t be around, but the recruits who go to the academy and see the name Steve McDonald, they might wonder who that guy is, look into his story and see how he lived his life as a police officer and detective,” Conor said.
His mother, Patti Ann, shared an emotional moment when learning the academy would bear her late husband’s name.
“I’m not one that is usually speechless, but she rendered me speechless,” Patti Ann, a former Malverne mayor, said of Commissioner Tisch telling her the news.
At the July 16 ceremony, Conor offered a fuller picture of his father’s determination despite unimaginable physical limitations.
McDonald “reflected on his father’s lifelong dedication to the department, and said his greatest mission became honoring officers who never made it home from their tours of duty.”
“My father was my hero,” Conor told the Herald.
The wider public also heard Conor’s conviction about his father’s enduring message.
“Dad never gave up. He believed his story of love and forgiveness, and perseverance could not only change New York City but the world, and he was right,” his son said.
His mother added her own reflection on the man Steven remained after the shooting.
“It did not prevent him from continuing to care for others. That was a constant,” Patti Ann said.
In the viral moment that frames Conor’s lifelong mission, on July 12, 1986,
Detective Steven McDonald was investigating bicycle thefts while on patrol in Central Park when 15-year-old Shavod Jones shot him three times.
The 59-year-old McDonald was investigating a bicycle robbery in Central Park on July 12, 1986 when he was shot three times. He was left quadriplegic and had to breathe on a ventilator.
He publicly forgave the teen shooter, Shavod Jones, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Jones was killed in a motorcycle crash on September 10, 1995, four days after his release on parole.
Steven McDonald, who passed away in 2017, had always aspired for his son to reach the rank of captain.
Conor eventually reached that rank, and earlier in his career, he had spoken movingly of achieving it in his father’s presence.
“This is one rank my dad discussed with me, that it was his dream and my dream,” McDonald told CBS New York.
Now, with his advancement to deputy inspector, Conor continues ascending the ranks his father envisioned, while stewarding the legacy of forgiveness and service that defined Steven McDonald’s three decades in the department after the shooting.
McDonald’s next assignment will be announced by NYPD leadership in the coming weeks.