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HIS LIFELONG DREAM WAS PUTTING ON THE BADGE

For as long as his parents can remember, Omar Edwards wanted to be a cop.

“When he was a small boy, he would go over to the 71st Precinct just to be around the police,” his father, Ricardo Edwards, told The Post from his Brooklyn home, near where Omar, a newlywed father of two, grew up.

“He fell in love with the NYPD from the very beginning — all his life he loved the police.”

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His father had misgivings, but it was Omar’s dream, and “I wasn’t going to take that away from him.”

How could he, Ricardo said, when every day — in addition to wearing his department-issue gun and badge — he always put on a smile?

Edwards, 25, was killed right after getting off duty. His life was over, his father said, just as it all seemed to be falling into place. And all at the hands of another cop.

“It’s a very, very sad occasion,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, after visiting with the officer’s mother, Natalia Harding.

Edwards had two sons, the job he always wanted, and last month he married his true love, his father said.

“Now his career and his life were snuffed out by a mistake,” he said.

Tragedy came just seven weeks after Omar’s wedding day.

On April 17, Edwards married Danielle Glenn, the mother of his two sons, 18-month-old Xavier and 7-month-old Keanu, at a small ceremony at City Hall.

The couple had been together for several years, but the 22-year-old bride gushed on her MySpace page that she was “so excited” and “can’t wait” as the big day approached. She said she felt “adored.”

The pair went on a short honeymoon — unable to bear being away from the kids for too long, but were planning a longer vacation.

Yesterday, the distraught widow was too devastated to speak.

“It’s too much, I can’t even speak right now,” she said by phone.

Omar Edwards was born in Panama in 1984. His family immigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn when he was a baby, neighbors said.

Many young kids talk of being cops or firefighters, but Edwards pursued his dream at every turn.

He went to a summer camp for kids interested in careers as police officers, and in high school joined the NYPD’s Law Enforcement Explorer program, which introduces young people to working on the force.

Alex McCormick, a childhood friend, said not many kids from Brownsville wanted to be cops.

“That’s why I was so proud of him,” he said. “But I wasn’t surprised — when he put his mind to something, he did it. His kids know he’s respected and he was a good guy and he died doing what he loved to do.”

Edwards wanted to become a police officer “because he grew up in a rough neighborhood and thought he could help make it a better place,” a fellow officer said. “He also wanted his kids to have a better life.”

Aside from his family and the force, Edwards’ other love was football.

During his time at Lincoln HS, he was called “The Ninja Turtle” on the gridiron because he could take on anybody, said former coach Shawn O’Connor, 39.

“He was what you would want in a teammate,” he said. “He was a hard worker. He came and kept everyone together.”

Edwards, who played defensive back for the NYPD football squad, was beloved by teammates.

“Omar was a gentleman — he would give you the shirt off his back,” said Detective Eddie Gardner, the team’s general manager. “He was always smiling. A very happy guy — a great guy.”

He did not play on the team this season because of the demands of raising two boys under age 2.

But his teammates say that they may dedicate their game against the FDNY tomorrow in honor of their fallen friend.

As much as Edwards loved being a cop, he hoped his sons would pursue another career, said Curtis Lucas, 33, his friend and barber.

“He always said he wanted his two kids to grow up to be football players,” said Lucas, who works at Frank’s Barber Shop, just down the block from Edwards’ childhood home.

It wasn’t enough to be a cop. Edwards wanted to be “a top cop,” Lucas said.

Officers at Police Service Area 5 in Harlem, where Edwards worked, said he was well on his way.

“He was a very good cop, had a good head on his shoulders, and was a standout among the rookies where he worked,” a police source said. “He was also very well liked.”

He patrolled the Wagner Houses, and despite his youth, earned the respect of many in the neighborhood.

“He represented the sort of police officer that this community needed,” said Edward Gibbs, of the Harlem United Clergy for Change.

“He was always soft-spoken — as opposed to a cop who would throw you up against the wall and interrogate you, he’d talk to you,” Gibbs said.

To Edwards, being a cop was about helping people, the Rev. Melvin Davis, his neighbor, said.

“He always offered to help — he would dig your car out in the winter,” he said. “Not only was he a role model to his wife and two kids, he was a role model to the whole block.”

Additional reporting by Larry Celona, C.J. Sullivan, and Kevin Fasick

john.doyle@nypost.com