Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Rest in peace Detective McCarthy.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

September 27, 2022

No passage of time can ever erase your service and sacrifice. Rest in peace always.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police (Retired)

September 27, 2020

It is so amazing to read about my late husband’s grandfather. He was proud to be his grandson and wished he could have known him. I read of how Con would”jest”. That sounds so much like my husband, Ed. Ed was a lawyer—a different type of law enforcement. I guess caring about the law is in the genes. I want Mary, Con’s great granddaughter, to read these posts with pride.

Carole McCarthy
Det. McCarthy’ s grandson’s wife

June 14, 2020

Rest In Peace Brother in Blue. Thank you Hero and your family for your sacrifice and service. Never forgotten.

Officer Mike Robinson (Ret.)
Upland Police Dept. CA

September 27, 2019

Con is my Great Grandfather and his influence of my life is great. I never knew him but that did not stop the lessons of his life and dedication from being passed down through the generations of McCarthy's. Since I was a young boy I dreamed of becoming a law enforcement officer. I revered my Uncle who was not only the Chief of Police of the DMPD but now is in his second term as Polk County Sheriff. I entered the US Army to become a Military Policeman. I now serve as a Correctional Officer in Johnson County Kansas. I am so blessed and thankful to be Con's great grandson and Bill's nephew. What a tremendous history of selfless service to the public they and so many other McCarthys have shown over the years. God bless Con, Bill and all those that serve.

Officer Todd McCarthy
Johnson County Department of Corrections

February 20, 2014

To fully appreciate the heroes of the present, we must recognize our heroes of the past. I am privileged to pay tribute to you. Your heroism and service is honored today, the 94th anniversary year of your death. How proud you must be that your grandson has continued your legacy of protecting and serving.

Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer who was murdered in the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

Time never diminishes respect. Your memory will always be honored and revered.

Rest In Peace.

Phyllis Lasater Loya
mom of fallen Pittsburg (CA) officer Larry Lasater

August 7, 2013

Rest in Peace, Detective McCarthy. Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Officer 11169

May 26, 2013

Det. McCarthy,
On today, the 90th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Des Moines. At least your murderer died in prison and was never able to harm anyone else.

R.I.P.
USBP

Anonymous

September 29, 2009

It is wonderful to see Detective McCarthy remembered not only by caring strangers like me who learned of his life on this web site, but by those whose lives he directly touched through his service. It is my honor to join their company to express my appreciation for this hero's life and sacrifice.

June 6, 2008

"Con's" badge number was 14.
From a 1921 Des Moines Police Ball Book

In loving memory of our dead heroes of peace, we, the members of the Des Moines Police Burial and Protective Association, dedicate this booklet.

Their names are not numbered among those whom a grateful people honor by eternal remembrance of their sacrifice, kept fresh through the recounting of their heroic deeds, and renewed constantly by due and fitting ceremonies to their memory.

They gave their lives not on the open field of battle, but in the constant guerrilla warfare against crime, which must be waged night and day, year in and year out, without armistice or treaty of peace, that we may enjoy our peaceful homes, hold our property in safety, and live under guarantees of our laws.

They fought their fight well, and did their duty uncomplainingly. Their lives were part of the price which we, their friends and comrades, know only to well must be paid for protection from the outlaw, the bandit, the maniac and the degenerate.

Their names are enrolled in our hearts, never to be erased. We do not remember their deaths, but their lives. Brave, big hearted Charley Jackson, Con McCarthy with his jest and laughter, quiet George Mattern and Frank Delmege, gone these many years, still walk among us and he who would shirk a dangerous task or flinch when the criminal stands at bay cannot linger long in our ranks, strengthened by the memory of these men and what they have done.

We ask of you, fellow citizen, not to forget that when the supreme test came, these men did not fail you. They were not paid mercenaries, bought with the monthly pittance of their work. They had no thought of self when they went to their deaths, they were your own representatives, and they faced the bullets of men like Dutch Cross---that these bullets should not be directed against you and yours.

With their lives and their deaths before us, we are strengthened to better service and a more faithful performance of our duty than we could be without these standards before us which we have set. They are dead, yet they still serve you. Unpaid, little honored, sometimes almost forgotten, they are still present when the roll is called, and they walk with us in midnight chase or raid, and through their past example still serve the people for whom they made the supreme sacrifice.

"Greater Love Hath No Man Than That He Lay Down His Life For His Friend" Yet perhaps even a greater love had these four, for they laid down their lives for men and women they knew not at all.

Rest in peace, Charles Jackson, Con McCarthy, Frank Delmege, George Mattern. You are not forgotten, and you still serve in our ranks.

SPO William Trimble
Des Moines Police Department

May 24, 2004

The Legacy of his bloodline lives on as his Grandson William Michael McCarthy was appointed Chief 02/17/2003 of "Con's" Des Moines, Iowa Police Department.

SPO William Trimble
Des Moines Police Department

May 21, 2004

You died protecting your community from a thief and a burglar who unfortunately turned out to also be capable of murder. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace.

Auxiliary Police Officer Charles Smith
New York City Police Department - Auxiliary Police Section

May 14, 2004