More than anything, Javiar Elcock, 24, one of the NYPD’s newest officers, wants to make his dad proud.
Elcock immigrated to America at a young age alongside his three brothers from Guyana. He believes his family made the trek for a reason—to make a difference.
“I want to make it seem like he brought me here for something, and I am just drawn towards law enforcement,” said Elcock, who graduated from the Police Academy on Thursday. “I like seeing other people happy.”
The new officer’s journey to the NYPD, however, took an unusual turn.
In 2023, Elcock became a police cadet, a paid internship program for those interested in becoming officers, to make his law enforcement dreams a reality. Little did he know this would have a monumental influence on his life.
On Aug. 9 of that year, the young man was taking complaint reports at the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill, Queens, when a man suffering a mental health episode entered the precinct.
“He felt like he was being tracked and somebody was following him so officers called him an ambulance,” Elcock recalled. “And then someone else came in looking for their car, so I was trying to help him find the car.”
Moments later, Elcock stepped out of the stationhouse to take a phone call when he heard a commotion. Turning he saw the emotionally disturbed person chasing the individual looking for his car.
The cadet immediately placed himself in harm’s way, putting his body in between them without realizing the life-threatening danger he was in.
“I didn’t see a knife in his hand, I got in between him to stop him from catching the first guy, and at the same time I got in his way, that’s when the knife connected to my upper left chest,” Elcock said. “Everybody came out with their guns out and told him to drop his knife. They arrested him.”
The assailant, identified as Nicholas Melchor, was taken into custody on weapon charges.
As for Elcock, he survived the incident because he wore a special vest given to cadets that blocked the knife from entering his chest.
“I looked down, and I was like, oh, I got stabbed. They [the officers] took my shirt off, and it went straight through the shirt to the steel plate as well,” Elcock said. ”I was shocked.”
While this experience might have dissuaded many young men from continuing to pursue the life of a cop, this near-deadly moment spurred Elcock onward.
“I saw how happy it made him, I never saw myself as being a hero. It actually made me more excited to get on the job,” Elcock said.
Elcock returned to duty the very next day and even received a standing ovation from cops at the 102nd Precinct.
Nearly two years later, on May 8, he finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming an NYPD officer as part of the latest graduating class during a ceremony at Madison Square Garden.
With eyes now off the past and firmly planted on the future, the young cop told amNewYork that he wants to help cultivate a better relationship between the public and the NYPD.
“I would love to motivate people, little kids as well, kids younger than me. I would love to motivate them and give them an insight,” Elcock said. “I would love to be that bridge between not only civilians, but other police officers as well, and future police officers.”
