John joined the New York City Police Department in 1987, continuing his life of service after his honorable discharge from the Marines. He was assigned first to the 72nd Precinct in Brooklyn — his old neighborhood of Sunset Park — where he worked for seven years.
In 1994 he joined Brooklyn South Narcotics, where he earned a gold shield as a Brooklyn narcotics detective. He returned to the 72nd Precinct as a detective three years later and received numerous citations for excellent police duty across his career.
Officer Pat Quinlan, who worked with Chipura at the 72nd Precinct, said John never took anything personally and always helped fellow officers, offering career advice and guidance. “He would pull recruits off to the side and talk to them about the pitfalls of the job,” he said. Lt. Jack Cambria, who supervised Chipura's squad in 1991, said Chipura was compassionate about people's needs.
Fellow firefighter Peter DiSalvo said Chipura's success as a police officer was a testament to his professionalism. “He spoke to the bad guys like a man,” DiSalvo said. “He would confront them and tell them he had a job to do.”
