Tens of thousands of people are attending the funeral in New York of Rafael Ramos, one of the two policemen shot dead a week ago.
Vice-President Joe Biden praised the "finest police department in the world" at the service, attended by police forces from across the US and Canada.
Officer Ramos's coffin lay overnight in the church in the Queens district.
He and Wenjian Liu were shot by a man who said he was avenging the killing of unarmed black people by police.
Police have yet to announce funeral details for Officer Liu.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is also among the mourners. It is the first time he is publicly mingling with police officers and union representatives since officers, angered by his support for anti-police protesters, turned their backs to him at the hospital where the two men were pronounced dead on 20 December.
The mayor briefly attended a memorial service for the officer on Friday.
'Man of faith'Thousands of officers, many in blue dress uniform, came to the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens for the funeral.
"This is probably going to be the largest one, maybe in the history of the police department," Stephen Davis, the department's chief spokesman, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
"If nothing else it's the way this was done," he added, referring to the two officers' murder.
It was, he said, "an out and out calculated assassination, even notwithstanding the current controversy, the protests across the country".
When the Ramos family arrived, the eldest son Justin, wearing his father's New York police department (NYPD) jacket was hugged by a police officer.
Officer Ramos, 40, had been studying to become a police chaplain.
"He was a man of great faith," Ralph Castillo, a pastor, told AFP News agency. "We're going to miss him a great deal."
Mayor's appealThe two police officers were shot after weeks of protests following the decision of a grand jury not to press charges against a white police officer over the death of unarmed black man Eric Garner, who was placed in a chokehold while being restrained.
He was one of several black men or boys killed by police in 2014.
On Monday, Mayor de Blasio urged New York to unite in supporting the families of the two slain officers.
He asked the city to "put aside" debate and protests in the coming days.
Mr de Blasio has been accused of stoking tensions between police and minorities in the city.
Immediately after the double murder, police unions said the mayor had "blood on his hands" and former New York Governor George Pataki described the shootings as "a predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric" from the mayor.
However, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said for his part that he strongly rejected the notion the mayor had increased the risk to police officers by appearing to side with protesters following the death of Mr Garner.
Black man Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, shot and killed officers Ramos and Liu as they were sitting in a patrol vehicle in the borough of Brooklyn. He then killed himself nearby.
Brinsley had a history of violence and mental instability and had been arrested at least 19 times in Georgia and Ohio, police said. Before attacking the police officers, he had shot and injured his girlfriend.
On the day of the shooting, he went on social media to say he was planning to kill police officers.
Huge funeral for New York policeman
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