Investigator Jack McLaughlin Way honors slain law enforcement officer

CAMDEN – Jack McLaughlin’s name is already written in the history of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office as the agency’s only member to die in the line of duty.

Now it also appears on large blue-and-white signs identifying an access road outside the agency's headquarters in Camden.

The name of Jack McLaughlin Way, unveiled at an April 18 ceremony "honors Jack's memory and serves as a lasting tribute," the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

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“These signs honor a courageous man who gave his life while striving to make Camden County a safer place for our residents, and most importantly, our children,” said Michael Mangold, the chief of staff for the prosecutor’s office.

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McLaughlin, a child abuse investigator, was slain in 1995 while trying to serve a warrant on a Haddon Heights resident.

A Haddon Heights police officer also died in a fusillade of bullets from the killer's assault weapon.

The honor for McLaughlin was proposed by two members of a new generation at the prosecutor's office, Detective Sergeants Andy McNeil and Denny Convery.

The signs mark an access road, previously unnamed, outside the agency's headquarters in the Florio Center for Public Service. It runs between Federal Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard in Camden.

Kim McLaughlin, the investigator’s widow, said the name will help people recognize the sacrifice by McLaughlin and Haddon Heights policeman John Norcross.

“I often find that if I’m somewhere and I see a street named after somebody, that I’m curious about that person, if it's not a famous person” she said.

“And I really feel that the street being named for Jack will keep that legacy going, that Jack and John are both leaving behind,” she continued.

“Because this story will get told over and over again.”

McLaughlin, a 38-year-old Air Force veteran, died when he and a Haddon Heights police detective, Richard Norcross, tried to serve a warrant at the home of Leslie Nelson, a suspect in a child abuse case.

Richard Norcross was shot multiple times inside Nelson's home, but survived with severe injuries.

Leslie Nelson serving life term

However, his 24-year-old brother and fellow policeman, John Norcross, was killed outside Nelson’s Sylvan Avenue home.

Nelson, known to neighbors for unusual behavior, surrendered after a stand-off of more than 14 hours.

Now 66, she is serving a life term with no parole eligibility until 2048, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Richard Norcross spent 12 years with the intelligence unit of the prosecutor’s office after retiring from the police department.

At Thursday’s ceremony, he praised McLaughlin’s dedication and courage in remarks before law officers from across Camden County..

He also noted lessons learned from the tragedy, including how to cope with trauma, now are taught in training sessions to help protect others in law enforcement.

Prosecutor Grace MacAulay struggled to maintain her composure as she recalled "a sea of blue police uniforms" at McLaughlin's services and schoolchildren saluting from sidewalks as his motorcade passed by.

"We were trying to make sense of it all, evoking every kind of emotion and at the same time feeling the greatest outpouring of love," she said.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden County Prosecutor's Office honors Investigator Jack McLaughlin