Search Results
Eric Adams, 2015 April 22 and 2015 June 11
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Eric Adams provided two sessions of oral history interviews addressing the same subjects: his career in the New York police Department, the history of the Guardians Association, and the founding of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. He also goes into some detail about his personal background, including memories about police community relationships in Queens, where he grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, and his efforts to speak out against racism in the police department.
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Charles C. Coleman, 2015 August 19
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Charles Coleman talks about his experiences working for New York City Police Department from the 1960s to the 1980s. He describes working undercover in the late 1960s during the Columbia University Protests of 1968, his experiences in Harlem as a member of the NYPD Narcotics Division, and his time with the NYPD Guardians Association. He speaks about the importance of having minorities in high-ranking positions within the department and the continuing efforts for equality within the NYPD. He was also on the Civilian Review Board, and comments on some of its structural changes over time.
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Reuben C. Bankhead, 2015 August 3
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Reuben Bankhead speaks primarily of the NYPD Guardians Association, and its importance to aiding the careers of black police officers during his time with the New York City Police Department. He shares how influential the advice of more experienced police was when he was starting out, as well their advocacy and support for black officers to take promotion exams. He comments on the affect of the lawsuits brought by the Guardians Association, aiding later generations of police officers. He also touches on how policing has changed from the 1960s and 1970s into the 2000s, and the importance of residency requirements to community policing.
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Graham Weatherspoon, 2015 February 17
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Graham Weatherspoon talks primarily on the subject of his experiences with the Transit Guardians Association and with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. He also covers formative memories of his years as a Transit Police detective through the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, as well as his youth growing up in East New York in the 1950s and 60s. Weatherspoon shares his views on contemporary politics, and his commentary on the conduct of the New York Police Department regarding high profile shootings of African American police officers and civilians.
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Reuben C. Bankhead, Charles C. Coleman, Lester Grissom, Leroy Hendricks, and Robert Nero, 2015 June 8
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This is a group oral history interview with Reuben C. Bankhead, Charles C. Coleman, Lester H. Grissom, Leroy Hendricks, and Robert Nero. They share stories from their time in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. They were all members of the NYPD Guardians Association, and speak about how the organization influenced their careers. The conversation spans racial equality issues in NYPD, including promotion exams, and instances of retaliation for speaking out against prejudice. They describe the conflict between the NYPD Guardians Association and the NYPD Patrolmen's Benevolent Association over the attempted establishment of a Civilian Complaint Review Board in 1966. They also remember several lawsuits reversing discriminatory hiring and promotional practices.
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Robert Nero, 2015 March 10
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Robert Nero focuses on his work with the Housing Guardians Association, and later the NYPD Guardians Association as an active member and then a retired trustee. He also talks about his views on community policing from his perspective as a Housing Police officer in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, and the importance of building those strong relationships if the NYPD is going to improve in the future. He discusses the impact of racism on officers' careers, from gaining employment and promotions, to harassment and officer safety. While great strides were made during his time on the force, he also expresses how much is left to be done. Other topics include his perspective on community perceptions of police violence, life growing up in Queens, his time in the military during the Cuban Missile crisis.
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Caudieu Cook, 2015 May 4
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Caudieu Cook remembers his long career as a police officer in New York City as well as New York State, and as an active member of the Guardians Association. He discusses his experiences of protests in the 1960s for the end of de facto segregation in the public schools, for more minority teachers to be hired, and against the Viet Nam war. He also talks about having seen Martin Luther King Jr. speak, when he was a child, and the impact on his community after the assassinations of King and Malcolm X. Other core subjects include his education, and his work as an officer to speak out again injustice, violence, and racism.
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Alicia C. Parker, 2015 November 5
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Alicia Parker describes her work with the New York City Police Department, and her involvement with the Guardians Association from the 1970s through the 1990s. She sheds light on challenges she faced as a woman of color, and how the Guardians Association and the Policewomen's Endowment Association played an important role in her career advancement. She also provides details on the administrations of Mayor David Dinkins, for whom she provided Personal Security, and of Rudy Giuliani. Also discussed, were the distressed relations between police and communities of color in New York City, and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement as of 2015.
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Joseph R. Richardson, 2015 October 27
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Joe Richardson describes his transition from working on a farm in rural Virginia to working as a police officer in 1960s New York City. He talks about his decision to change departments within the police force several times, sharing the different challenges he faced both on the street as an undercover officer and a member of the Tactical Patrol Force, as well as bureaucratic challenges while working on the Civilian Complaint Review Board. He also discusses his views on the changes within the NYPD Guardians Association over the years, and how he believes it can improve in the future.
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