Weekend Buff

NYPD: A City and its Police

Thomas Reppetto was one of the most influential men in modern policing. He was a Commander of Detectives for the Chicago Police Department, the dean of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, founder of the Citizen Crime Commission, and the author of several books and numerous articles. I had the pleasure of meeting him when he came to visit the NYPD Chief of Detectives in 2013.

He teamed up with author James Lardner to research and publish a book on the New York City Police Department, titled “NYPD: A City and its Police”, which is our recommendation for this installment of Weekend Buff.

This book is a fascinating and engaging history of policing in the Big Apple, from its humble beginnings of nightwatchmen, to the formation of the Municipal Police in 1845, its transition to the Metropolitan Police in 1857, to the modern professional force of the 21^st Century.

Reppetto and Lardner tell this story in an engaging manner. They relate the experiences of the regular beat cop and the men who changed the department such as Clubber Williams, who’s oft quoted line “There’s more law at the end of a policeman’s nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court”, was emblematic of the violence and corruption that characterized 19^th Century policing in NYC.

They also tell the tale of men like Thomas Byrnes, who is credited with the creation of the modern detective model, but also used methods such as “the 3^rd degree” to elicit confessions. He covers NYPD leaders through the years, from reformer Teddy Roosevelt up to Bill Bratton and his revolutionary approach to policing that put the NYPD on the forefront of effective crime reduction.

Unfortunately, the history of the department is filled with instances of corruption and efforts at reform. Reppetto and Lardner detail these misdeeds and the various commissions that tried to eradicate them. They do a good job of explaining the forces that led to corruption and the ebb and flow of reform and regression.

That narrative is told with the stories of men like crusaders Frank Serpico, Lewis Valentine, and Giuseppe Petrosino.

The book covers over 150 years of policing, so there is no room for deep dives into one era or another, but they manage to detail important events while keeping the story moving. Using the men and women that served in the department to illustrate its flaw and successes, the authors produce a succinct but comprehensive narrative.

The book was published in 2000, so there is certainly some important topics missing here like the tragic attack on September 11^th, and Commissioner Kelly’s creation of an international intelligence and counterterrorism apparatus. Kelly has his own book on that topic, which can be read to complement this chronicle.

NYPD: A City and Its Police is just short of 400 pages, but it is a page turner and an easy read. As a NYPD cop who took several promotional exams, I found this book to be an intriguing exploration of the department’s history as it relates to departmental procedures. I could see the reasons for many seemingly arcane patrol guide directives by learning how prior events led to their creation. You can find the book on Amazon for $8. It is a must read for any police buff as the long, sometimes checkered, history of the nation’s largest police department is full of interesting stories and larger than life cops.

Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe.