Slain NYPD Officer Brian Mulkeen deserves all the praise he is getting upon his untimely death, town of Tuxedo Police Sgt. Douglas Russell told Spectrum News on Tuesday afternoon.

"You know how it is when someone passes away," Russell said. "Everyone has great things [to say] because all that comes to mind is the good stuff. This guy is everything you're hearing about."

Russell says back when Mulkeen was just starting his law enforcement career in Tuxedo as a dispatcher, he admired Mulkeen.

Just after midnight on Sunday, Mulkeen was involved in a foot pursuit and subsequent struggle with an armed suspect. During the struggle, five other officers fired ten rounds, two of which hit Mulkeen, killing him.

Russell mentioned that — like in many workplaces — there is often gossip going around at police departments, but Mulkeen stayed above the fray.

"He was someone who stayed away from that, and never got involved in it," Russell said. "There are very few select officers you'll find never get involved in anything negative. He was that guy."

That is why Russell was not surprised when Mulkeen breezed through both the NYPD Police Academy and the notoriously grueling Ulster County Police Academy, as well as losing about a hundred pounds to better prepare himself for a career at the highest level of law enforcement.

"I remember predicting, 'Oh you'll be a lieutenant. Within five years, you'll be a lieutenant,'" Russell said. "He would laugh about it, but we knew he had the ability to do those things."

Mulkeen, though, seemed more focused on his less glamorous anti-crime unit in the Bronx, where a lieutenant promotion was less likely. That does not surprise Russell. Russell says it was clear Mulkeen preferred working in the community over desk jobs, whether those desk jobs were rookie dispatcher or veteran administrator.

"That unit, from what I hear, it appears he did a lot in that unit," Russell said, "and he was making a difference where he was."

According to the Fordham University Sports website, Mulkeen's wake is scheduled for Thursday, from 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Seaman and Quackenbush Funeral Home in Monroe, and the funeral will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, at Church of the Sacred Heart, also in Monroe.