Police union president’s son joins NYPD — following in footsteps of his father and grandfather

A third-generation NYPD cop who graduated from the department’s newest class at Madison Square Garden Monday plans to carry on the “incredible” legacy left behind by his lineage.

“It’s an incredible legacy to carry on with my dad and my grandfather being in the NYPD,” fledgling officer Matthew Vallelong told The Post. “I’m trying to uphold the same values they did their job with, but I also want to try to create my own path within the department and bring my own perspective to the job.” 

The son of Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vinny Vallelong, the younger Vallelong said hearing the stories from his dad and grandfather, officer Anthony Vallelong, made him want to become a cop “from a very young age.” 

He was among the 646 graduates who streamed into “The World’s Most Famous Arena” Monday morning. 

Matthew Vallelong, 21, said he’s excited to learn once he joins the job and is eager to create his own style of policing.

“Obviously, you want it to be about the community, and talking to people to hear what’s going on, their feelings, what they want us to do, the College of Staten Island graduate added.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told the sea of blue at the Garden that “together you reflect the very soul of New York.” 

“When I first became police commissioner, there were skeptics about the future of policing. People questioned whether anyone still wanted to become a cop — whether the next generation saw policing as a path worth taking,” she said, adding the department is on pace for the “highest hiring” in over four decades.

“The answer is standing right in front of us.” 

For class valedictorian Patrick Smyth, 24, he “always wanted to be in law enforcement.”

“The NYPD is the biggest and best police department in the entire world so this is the perfect place to go and be,” he said — a day after running the New York City Marathon for the first time. 

Similarly, Matthew Vallelong said his decision to join the boys in blue tracks back decades. 

His grandfather, now 80, joined up as a police trainee in the early 1960s doing clerical work.

Like his grandson, he became a cop at just 21 — where he started out in the 80 Precinct in Brooklyn, which no longer exists. 

“I was moonlighting as a hearse driver for a funeral parlor,” Anthony Vallelong said. “Everybody needs extra income.”

He eventually got transferred to Manhattan’s 13th Precinct and remained there for 17 years before moving over to the public information office at One Police Plaza.

He believes his grandson has what it takes to represent the NYPD.

“I think he’s the kind of person the job needs,” the grandfather said.

The new graduate’s dad was even prouder because his son was joining the NYPD despite the current climate, which has put a damper on police recruitment in recent years, Vinny Vallelong said. 

“At a time when our profession has been unfairly criticized and taken for granted by many individuals who have no idea what it’s like to wear this uniform. … Our entire family is very proud of his willingness to follow in our footsteps and serve our city when our city needs officers of his caliber the most,” the proud union president said.

“He will make a great addition to the best police department in the world.”