INTRODUCTION TO THE NYPD QUESTIONS WITH 100% CORRECT
ANSWERS|CURRENT UPDATE!
What kind of organization is the NYPD - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 $ - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT ANSWER-This race riot resulted in deaths estimated as high as
3,000
, Draft Riots Motto - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT ANSWER-Curran Commission exposed ties between
police and racketeers, resulting in criminal indictments against 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT ANSWER-As the 1970s began, yet another corruption scandal
erupted, when the New York Times published strong evidence developed by Officer Frank
ANSWERS|CURRENT UPDATE!
What kind of organization is the NYPD - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 $ - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT ANSWER-This race riot resulted in deaths estimated as high as
3,000
, Draft Riots Motto - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT ANSWER-Curran Commission exposed ties between
police and racketeers, resulting in criminal indictments against 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 - CORRECT 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 - CORRECT ANSWER-As the 1970s began, yet another corruption scandal
erupted, when the New York Times published strong evidence developed by Officer Frank
