Each day, decade after decade, across hundreds of federal law enforcement agencies, officers and federal agents go about protecting and serving the homeland of the United States of America. They leave their families to face the unknown without regard to their personal safety to protect the public from danger. I will tell you the story of one such young man who did just that and had immense passion for service to others.

George Spencer admired the law enforcement profession at an early age. He wanted to make a difference. That burning desire led him to join the police department in his native St. Vincent, West Indies, at only 18 years of age. Sensing that a better life of opportunities might await him elsewhere, he decided to make a substantial change in his life. He decided to emigrate to the U.S. Whether it was in his native country or now his adopted country of the U.S., Spencer’s passion for serving and protecting others continued.

Spencer decided to enlist in the U.S. Army. When it came time to pick his specialty after proving himself through rigorous training, he was given the opportunity to become a military policeman, a continuation of his love and dedication to the profession. He served in the U.S. Army as an MP from 1969 to 1971. During his tour of duty, he earned his U.S. citizenship. The American dream was coming true for him. After his tour of duty concluded, Spencer moved to New York City. He was not the type of individual to rest. He knew what he wanted to do and was patient for an opportunity that fit his desire to get involved in law enforcement.

In the early 1970s, federal law enforcement positions were not easy to obtain without some type of experience. Spencer applied for a position with the U.S. Customs Service in 1973. At the time, the U.S. Customs Service did not have any law enforcement positions available; however, recognizing Spencer’s immense background and dedication, they offered him a job as a clerk (Level 3) in the mailroom of the U.S. Customs Service. He accepted the offer of federal employment, which came with good pay and benefits for his family, but kept his eventual goal of being in law enforcement in the forefront of his mind.

After three years of patiently waiting for the opportunity and proving himself along the way with his hard work ethic, Spencer earned the promotion to Customs patrol officer. He became Officer George Spencer, U.S. Customs Service. His years-long dream to become a law enforcement officer that spanned two nations became a reality. In the intervening years when his career was taking off, Spencer married his wife, Lucille, and they had a daughter named Kejo. From all accounts, Spencer, who worked both in uniform and in plainclothes, was a resolute officer who earned over 12 letters of commendation, made 25 arrests and in one instance arrested two men with over 20 pounds of smuggled cocaine. He was living the American dream in both his professional and personal life.

On a cold Monday night, November 30, 1981, Spencer, who was off duty after finishing his shift at the Pan Am terminal at JFK Airport about 30 minutes earlier, decided to visit some friends in the Hollis section of Queens before heading home to his family for the night. Spencer parked his late model BMW in his friend’s driveway and locked it with the alarm key beeper receiver that he had attached to his waist. Being in law enforcement and wary of car thieves, Spencer had wired his BMW to alert him in case it was broken into. The alarm key beeper receiver on his waist had a sound mechanism. He went inside his friend’s house.

While he was enjoying the company of his friends, the beeper alarm sound started going off on his waist. Immediately and without hesitation, Spencer rushed out of his friend’s residence to find a stranger in the front seat of his BMW. As he was attempting to pull this car thief out of his vehicle, gunshots rang out from the shadows behind Spencer. All the gunshots miraculously missed him, but he was forced to let go of the first car thief. A foot chase ensued with a second armed car thief through the streets of Hollis, Queens. Spencer was equipped with his .38-caliber service revolver with six bullets in the chamber. As the individual symbols of good and evil turned into an alleyway, a gun battle erupted. Spencer discharged all six bullets from his weapon. The car thief was, it was later learned, equipped with the far superior 9mm handgun with a 14-round magazine. There was no hope for Spencer. When the smoke cleared and the smell of the gun battle dissipated, Spencer lay dead with a gunshot to his face.

Spencer was laid to rest at St. Alban the Martyr Episcopal Church in St. Albans, Queens. Along with his wife, Lucille, and 6-year-old daughter, Kejo, hundreds of federal law enforcement colleagues attended his funeral. He would have turned 35 years old in less than two weeks. Across two nations, one being his native country, the other his adopted country, Spencer wore two uniforms, two patches and served in two agencies, but he had one heart for law enforcement. That heart brought him hundreds of miles in his eventual successful pursuit of the American dream that became a reality for him for a brief time until it became a sacrifice.

Case epilogue: In 1998, following a raid in Westbury by Nassau County Police, Derek McCarthy, 42 years old, was arrested for the murder of Spencer. His capture as the gunman in the shooting was made possible by a tip to NYPD narcotics investigators in an unrelated criminal case. The following year, his robbery accomplice in the murder was captured as well. Maurice Gittens was arrested by HIDTA federal law enforcement personnel in Queens not far from where the original murder took place. His undoing was simple: an old partial fingerprint that was matched as his in the system from a previous unrelated robbery conviction. McCarthy was convicted at trial, sentenced to 25 years to life and paroled in May 2023 at 69 years old. Gittens was given immunity to testify against McCarthy. No further criminal sentencing was placed on him. Despite extensive historical research, a further update on the wife and daughter of Spencer could not be found.