An NYPD detective who named her K9 dog after her father — who was killed in the line of duty nearly 30 years ago — was promoted Friday as she told The Post her slain hero dad would be “proud.”
Katrina J. Narvaez, 38, was one of 11 members of New York’s Finest promoted to detective second-grade at a One Police Plaza ceremony presided over by Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Narvaez was just 9 years old when her dad, Lt. Frederico Narvaez, was fatally shot while responding to a domestic incident in Flatbush on Oct. 18, 1996.
“I think [my dad] would be proud,” said Narvaez, who is married and expecting a child of her own – her first. “He was proud of his position in the NYPD and being around other cops and taking care of them.”
But it wasn’t until after her father’s death that she got to know his family in blue, who shared stories about him and showed her what it meant to protect and serve New Yorkers, she said.
“I didn’t really know what cops were until he passed away and I got to interact with a whole group of people, and I saw that they really cared about the community and about helping and about others,” Narvaez told The Post. “And it made me want to be a part of it.”
Narvaez entered the NYPD’s police academy in January of 2013, before joining Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct, where she was a patrol cop and later worked for the domestic violence unit.
Her love for animals drew her to her next assignment, working with a Vapor Wake K9 dog – trained to detect guns and explosives – in the department’s elite Emergency Service Unit.
She trained in Alabama for two months to prepare her to work with her new four-legged partner, a wire-haired pointer/Labrador mix.
“I was really happy when I came on the NYPD and I had hope that I would come on the K9 unit,” Narvaez said. “But when I actually got in, it was amazing and it changed my life.”
The opportunity held an even deeper meaning for Narvaez when she had the opportunity to name the K9 after her hero dad – calling him Freddy.
“He’s my best friend,” she said. “I’m with him more than I’m with any friend or family member.”
But soon, Narvaez will face the bittersweet reality of being paired with a new dog – as Freddy is 9 years old, the age of retirement for department K9s.
But in the meantime, she and her loved ones are relishing in the excitement at her promotion.
“I am so appreciative,” Narvaez said. “It means a lot to myself and my family. I was hoping that maybe one day this would happen, but the fact that it happened now is amazing.”
“I couldn’t be here without the support of my mom and my husband and my family and friends, both on and off the NYPD.”
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