This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

When playing his favorite game as a youngster, cops and robbers, Cedric Dixon always insisted on being the one wearing the badge.

“He had to be a cop,” Monique Dixon, his youngest sister, said. “That was always his goal.”

Mr. Dixon died on March 28 while wearing the badge of a detective with the New York City Police Department. He was 48.

The cause was complications of the new coronavirus, Ms. Dixon said. His death, at North Central Bronx hospital, is believed to be the first of a sworn N.Y.P.D. officer caused by the virus.