Man joins Raleigh PD to honor his late father who died in line of duty

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Jose Diaz is still over the moon about the moment his fiancée got to pin a badge on him.

"It's not just wearing a badge on your uniform," said Diaz, who graduated from the Raleigh Police Academy last month. "It's wearing the badge on your heart and making a difference."

Diaz also posed with his 7-year-old daughter Jaidyn at the ceremony which saw more than 40 people finish the academy.

It's a recreation of the same pose Jose did with his own dad years ago at his father's graduation from the NYPD academy.

"For him, it was more than just a calling," Diaz, 36, said on Tuesday. "I don't know how he did it. I'm learning how to clock out of being a police officer and then turning on the dad belt, which he did well."

Diaz and his family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after he finished high school in the Bronx in 2004.

A year later, his father died in the line of duty. Jose Diaz Sr. was trying to hop over a median on I-95 but didn't realize there was an opening and he fell 110 feet.

"He raised me well, and he never wanted me to carry this torch or never wanted me to be afraid of his shadow -- the very big shadow he left behind," Jose Diaz said, and he noted that his father responded to the Twin Towers on 9/11 while he was with New York Police.

Diaz said his father was disturbed by what he said but it never deterred him from doing his job.

The job has stuck with Diaz even after many years of working in sales. He said his fiancée, who is a nurse, convinced him now was finally the time to do it.

She saw an opening with the Raleigh Police Department and they moved from Florida.

"We have to work together -- the community and police officers alike," said Diaz. "Officers need to build and regain that trust."