Fourth-generation NYPD cop to graduate Monday, continuing family’s century of policing

This aspiring cop is about to join the family business.

When 25-year-old Michael McCarthy graduates from the New York City Police Academy on Monday, he’ll be the fourth generation of his family to tack on a patrolman’s shield and keep watch over the Big Apple’s chaotic streets.

“I never pressured him,” said Kevin McCarthy, Michael’s dad and a retired NYPD cop who worked in the Bronx. “My father never pushed the job on us, and I didn’t push him.”

Of course, that didn’t stop his son from marching down the same path that so many McCarthy boys had walked before. And that’s a point of family pride.

“He studied real hard and did well in the academy,” Kevin told The Post. “I am proud of him … and he can’t wait to get out there.”

The McCarthy family’s New York tale starts more than a century ago when Jeremiah McCarthy first landed on the Empire State’s shores in 1912.

The Irish immigrant found work as a chauffeur in New Bedford, NY, before the US Army drafted him in 1917 and sent him back to Europe – this time as a fighting man.

He served with an American tank unit in France alongside Lt. Col. George Patton during World War I, his family said. When he came home, the government granted him citizenship in return for his service.

Like so many other displaced sons of the Emerald Isle, Jeremiah chose a career in law enforcement.

He went into the police academy in October 1921, graduated seven months later and spent 35 years on the Manhattan streets as part of a traffic unit, the family said. He retired in 1956.

His grandson, John McCarthy, told The Post that his sharp-dressed grandfather spoke with an Irish lilt and was known by other cops as a man who looked out for his friends.

Jeremiah’s son, John, became a New York City cop in September 1953 and worked in Manhattan and the Bronx before joining the department’s organized crime bureau in 1971.

There he stayed until his retirement in 1984, the family said.

Three of his kids – John, Kevin and Mary – joined the force just as he left.

John told The Post that his father’s love of the job heavily influenced his decision to join New York’s Finest.

“On weekends, my father’s partners would come over they would tell stories of the big arrests they made,” John said. “Through osmosis, I knew I wanted to be a cop since the fourth grade.”

John worked from 1981 to 2001, retiring as a lieutenant commander in the detective squad. Mary retired in 1989 after a line-of-duty injury cut short her career.

Now, it’s Michael’s turn to further the family’s law enforcement legacy.

Kevin, his father, said he offered his son a few bits of advice: Know where you are in case you have to call for backup. Do what you’re told. And handle yourself appropriately.

“Being a police officer is a great job, but it’s a tough job – you have to want to be a cop,” Kevin said. “I just told him to treat people with respect.”