Introduction to the NYPD Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
What kind of organization is the NYPD ANSWER: But the first thing you
need to know about the NYPD is that this is not a democracy. This is a
paramilitary institution that is organized by rank and status.
NYPD mission statement ANSWER: To enhance the quality of life in our
city by working in partnership with the community and in accordance
with constitutional right to enforce laws, preserve the peace, reduce
fear, and provide for a safe environment.
Roots and Origin/Est. Date of NYPD ANSWER: The Department has its
roots in Old Dutch and English watchman systems, and was formally
established as the NYPD in May of 1845.
Draft Riots Exemption Amount $ ANSWER: Anybody who could pay the
government $300 was deemed to have made his contribution to the
war efforts, and was exempt from the draft.
Draft Riots Death Toll ANSWER: This race riot resulted in deaths
estimated as high as 3,000
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Draft Riots Motto ANSWER: From this event the grateful people of the
City of New York gave us our motto: Fidelis Ad Mortem...Faithful unto
Death.
Nineteenth Century - Alexander "Clubber" Williams ANSWER: the
captain of the Times Square precinct, the "tenderloin," where graft was
the greatest. At work, he extorted, stole, and used the club that gave
him his nickname to beat anybody who resisted his authority.
Lexow Committee
Twentieth Century Reform ANSWER: Held public hearings and showed
the extent to which the Department had been corrupted by its
connections to crooked politicians and racketeers. Its star witness, Max
Schmittberger, testified that he had paid $300 to become an officer and
$12,000 to become a captain. The usual price, Schmittberger testified,
was $10,000, but he had to go higher because another officer was
bidding against him.
Curran Committee
Twentieth Century Reform ANSWER: Curran Commission exposed ties
between police and racketeers, resulting in criminal indictments against
, 3 | Page
eight Inspectors. In 1914, the Department hired Samuel Battle, its first
black officer and, in 1917, introduced its first radio patrol cars.
Seabury Committee
Twentieth Century Reform ANSWER: By the time Prohibition ended in
1933, the nation was deep in the Depression, and the NYPD was just
coming out of another of its 20-year cycle of corruption scandals, this
time exposed by the Seabury Commission in 1931. These three forces
combined to change the NYPD forever and, in the view of many
historians, are among the major factors responsible for the modern
NYPD. The end of Prohibition meant that the flow of illegal liquor, and
the graft that went with it, had come to stop. The Seabury Commission
disclosures had many consequences, most notably the election of
Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a great reformer who vowed to clean up City
government.
Knapp Commission ANSWER: As the 1970s began, yet another
corruption scandal erupted, when the New York Times published strong
evidence developed by Officer Frank Serpico and Sergeant David Durk
that officers in the Plainclothes Division - the vice squad - were involved
in widespread corruption involving payoffs from gamblers. Another
investigation - conducted by the Knapp Commission - confirmed this,
Detailed Verified Answers
What kind of organization is the NYPD ANSWER: But the first thing you
need to know about the NYPD is that this is not a democracy. This is a
paramilitary institution that is organized by rank and status.
NYPD mission statement ANSWER: To enhance the quality of life in our
city by working in partnership with the community and in accordance
with constitutional right to enforce laws, preserve the peace, reduce
fear, and provide for a safe environment.
Roots and Origin/Est. Date of NYPD ANSWER: The Department has its
roots in Old Dutch and English watchman systems, and was formally
established as the NYPD in May of 1845.
Draft Riots Exemption Amount $ ANSWER: Anybody who could pay the
government $300 was deemed to have made his contribution to the
war efforts, and was exempt from the draft.
Draft Riots Death Toll ANSWER: This race riot resulted in deaths
estimated as high as 3,000
,2 | Page
Draft Riots Motto ANSWER: From this event the grateful people of the
City of New York gave us our motto: Fidelis Ad Mortem...Faithful unto
Death.
Nineteenth Century - Alexander "Clubber" Williams ANSWER: the
captain of the Times Square precinct, the "tenderloin," where graft was
the greatest. At work, he extorted, stole, and used the club that gave
him his nickname to beat anybody who resisted his authority.
Lexow Committee
Twentieth Century Reform ANSWER: Held public hearings and showed
the extent to which the Department had been corrupted by its
connections to crooked politicians and racketeers. Its star witness, Max
Schmittberger, testified that he had paid $300 to become an officer and
$12,000 to become a captain. The usual price, Schmittberger testified,
was $10,000, but he had to go higher because another officer was
bidding against him.
Curran Committee
Twentieth Century Reform ANSWER: Curran Commission exposed ties
between police and racketeers, resulting in criminal indictments against
, 3 | Page
eight Inspectors. In 1914, the Department hired Samuel Battle, its first
black officer and, in 1917, introduced its first radio patrol cars.
Seabury Committee
Twentieth Century Reform ANSWER: By the time Prohibition ended in
1933, the nation was deep in the Depression, and the NYPD was just
coming out of another of its 20-year cycle of corruption scandals, this
time exposed by the Seabury Commission in 1931. These three forces
combined to change the NYPD forever and, in the view of many
historians, are among the major factors responsible for the modern
NYPD. The end of Prohibition meant that the flow of illegal liquor, and
the graft that went with it, had come to stop. The Seabury Commission
disclosures had many consequences, most notably the election of
Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a great reformer who vowed to clean up City
government.
Knapp Commission ANSWER: As the 1970s began, yet another
corruption scandal erupted, when the New York Times published strong
evidence developed by Officer Frank Serpico and Sergeant David Durk
that officers in the Plainclothes Division - the vice squad - were involved
in widespread corruption involving payoffs from gamblers. Another
investigation - conducted by the Knapp Commission - confirmed this,
