This is one of the uncaptioned photographs I got from the Photography Unit at One Police Plaza. I had it up on the wall at the launch party and one of the detectives insisted it was Ray Kelly, New York’s Police Commissioner. I can’t tell for sure. Could be. What do you think? Here he […]

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As an amateur historian, I was fascinated with the NYPD’s Property Clerk Division. I wanted to see what they had saved. What I learned was: not much. Before I go any further, as far as I can tell they have their act together now, which I detail in the book. They got serious about storage […]

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The NYPD says this is their first mugshot. I found an 1857 New York Times article announcing a Daguerreotype Gallery of Criminals at the Detective Police Office, though. I wish the police department were hoarders. What a treasure that collection would have been if only they had saved it.

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This picture of a cop using an old police radio is from the group I got from One Police Plaza, and is undated. Now they can dial into various databases from their cars, and communicate to each other online (although, like people everywhere online, what they’re frequently doing is bickering). I wonder where he is. […]

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