Summary

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is the largest police force in the United States. Beginning with just a handful of officers and night marshals in the early 19th century, the ranks of New York City's police department swelled as the city's population soared from 60,515 in 1800 to more than 8 million citizens today. The present-day NYPD has approximately 34,500 uniformed officers who maintain law and order in the five boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. New York Police Department illustrates the colorful history and expansion of the Big Apple's law enforcement agency, highlighting duties, crime-fighting technology and equipment, and noteworthy investigations.

Key topics covered include:

• Black Hand gangs
• Noteworthy NYPD officers
• Fingerprint identification
• NYPD corruption and brutality
• The Son of Sam serial killer
• Nancy Titterton murder investigation
• John Gotti and the Gambino crime family
• Terrorism.

Specifications

Full-color and black-and-white photographs. Sidebars. Chronology. Endnotes. Bibliography. Further resources. Index.

About the Author(s)

Colin Evans is a writer specializing in criminal investigations and forensics. He has written numerous articles and books, including Blood on the Table: The Greatest Cases of New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, The Casebook of Forensic Detection, A Question of Evidence, and for Chelsea House, Crime Scene Investigation, Evidence, and Trials and the Courts. He has been a major contributor to Courtroom Drama; Great World Trials; Sex, Sin, and Mayhem; and Great American Trials. Evans lives in the United Kingdom.