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NYPD: A City and Its Police
NYPD details episodes as fresh as the shootings of unarmed men that have triggered mass protests against Mayor Rudy Giuliani. It also tells of forgotten but no less compelling dramas such as the Becker-Rosenthal case, in which a police lieutenant went to the electric chair, and the death of Joe Petrosino, a New York City detective gunned down on the streets of Palermo, Sicily, after his cover was blown by the police commissioner.
James Lardner and Thomas Reppetto, who know the police world from the inside, throw today's headlines into vivid relief by taking us back more than 150 years through a succession of immigrant waves, long hot summers, and career-destroying crises and scandals. Fascinating as history, NYPD is also a telling look at the fears, the lore, the slang, the secrets, and the rituals of a chronically misunderstood profession.
James Lardner and Thomas Reppetto, who know the police world from the inside, throw today's headlines into vivid relief by taking us back more than 150 years through a succession of immigrant waves, long hot summers, and career-destroying crises and scandals. Fascinating as history, NYPD is also a telling look at the fears, the lore, the slang, the secrets, and the rituals of a chronically misunderstood profession.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
James Lardner
16 books1 followerJames Lardner has written extensively about business, technology, the financial sector, and the role of regulation. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and The New York Review of Books, among other print and online publications. He was a senior fellow at Demos, a center for public policy based in New York City and a staff writer for the journal Remapping Debate, sponsored by the Anti-Discrimination Center. He was a member of the Washington, D.C., police force.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 18, 2020
We are given a history of the New York City Police (NYPD) since the 1840s. It has always been a difficult role for its leaders (called commissioners) – they were often beset by corruption, an antagonistic public, and various governmental levels.
There is always the conflict between following protocol and inflicting rough violence to subdue adversaries of any sort. From the start the police were issued batons which they sometimes used with abandon – more so during riots of which there were plenty during the 1800s and could go on over a few days.
Page 232 (my book) during the 1920 – 30s
[Detective] Broderick was skeptical of the niceties of due process. He encouraged the victims of crime - young women especially – to think of him as an informal protection service. A chorus girl, for example, might be under pressure from some creep looking to turn her into a prostitute. She could go to court, secure an order of protection, and beg the police to honor it, living in terror all the while. Or she could contact Broderick, and the upshot would be simpler.
There was a cycle of twenty years in which the police department would become grossly corrupt – then firings and a clean-up would ensue and for awhile the police department would be more effective with less on the take. There was an officer, Charles Becker, who was convicted and given the electric chair in 1915 for his involvement in a murder in the gambling underworld.
The authors also point out that qualifications for joining the NYPD were not that high throughout most of the 20th century (this book was published in 2000). Training is of short duration.
We are given plentiful examples in the book of corruption in the NYPD and the officers removed. But the NYPD, like many police forces in the U.S. has always been reticent about having public involvement (civilian overview) in exposing abusive and violent prone police officers. The NYPD has a very strong union which protects police (more so individual policemen) from public scrutiny. With the increasing Black population in New York they became a target of the NYPD, as well as Hispanic people beginning in the 1950s.
This book can overwhelm one with the numerous personalities introduced on each page. I would have liked to have known more about the street and subway level view of the NYPD. There was some of this, but not enough. The focus was more on police commissioners and mayors giving a very high-level viewpoint.
There is always the conflict between following protocol and inflicting rough violence to subdue adversaries of any sort. From the start the police were issued batons which they sometimes used with abandon – more so during riots of which there were plenty during the 1800s and could go on over a few days.
Page 232 (my book) during the 1920 – 30s
[Detective] Broderick was skeptical of the niceties of due process. He encouraged the victims of crime - young women especially – to think of him as an informal protection service. A chorus girl, for example, might be under pressure from some creep looking to turn her into a prostitute. She could go to court, secure an order of protection, and beg the police to honor it, living in terror all the while. Or she could contact Broderick, and the upshot would be simpler.
There was a cycle of twenty years in which the police department would become grossly corrupt – then firings and a clean-up would ensue and for awhile the police department would be more effective with less on the take. There was an officer, Charles Becker, who was convicted and given the electric chair in 1915 for his involvement in a murder in the gambling underworld.
The authors also point out that qualifications for joining the NYPD were not that high throughout most of the 20th century (this book was published in 2000). Training is of short duration.
We are given plentiful examples in the book of corruption in the NYPD and the officers removed. But the NYPD, like many police forces in the U.S. has always been reticent about having public involvement (civilian overview) in exposing abusive and violent prone police officers. The NYPD has a very strong union which protects police (more so individual policemen) from public scrutiny. With the increasing Black population in New York they became a target of the NYPD, as well as Hispanic people beginning in the 1950s.
This book can overwhelm one with the numerous personalities introduced on each page. I would have liked to have known more about the street and subway level view of the NYPD. There was some of this, but not enough. The focus was more on police commissioners and mayors giving a very high-level viewpoint.
May 24, 2011
What an incredibly good book.
May 13, 2022
A great read. I love this history of the NYPD and to learn so much more about it was a treat, especially some of the back stories of the history I already knew about.
September 9, 2014
Though somewhat outdated this book tells an interesting & exciting story for anyone interested in the NYPD. And like any good biography (of the NYPD), the authors give the reader a peak into the times & history of each era.
January 3, 2017
This is another book I'm reading for research. I'm looking for information about the early NYPD, and by someone who isn't sugar-coating it. I'm writing a book about a period in 19th century NYC and I already know in the early NYPD days it was often hard to tell the cops from the criminals.
March 9, 2015
Most of this book focused on the very early history of the department, only the last few chapters touch on the more recent past.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews