Policing Gotham: A People’s History of the NYPD

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is arguably the most (in)famous police department in the world. It has been featured in countless movies, documentaries, and books, and is practically synonymous with the very word “police.” However, despite its fame (or infamy), very little is known about the NYPD’s origins and its complex relationship to the city and its people.

In this walking tour, we offer one perspective by drawing from the frameworks of “a history from below” and “a people’s history'“ to tell the 400-year history of the NYPD. How was this police department formed? How did policing relate to the institutions of power, the organs of commerce, and the rights of property? How did everyday citizens support or challenge various forms of policing in their communities and neighborhoods?

Our tour will begin with an introduction to the origins of policing in New York City, followed by a walk through sites that will tell us stories like that of of the NYPD’s various transformations, the relationships between the police and local political figures, the numerous riots of Downtown Manhattan (some of which were led by the police themselves), the protests against police brutality, and the efforts of legal resistance to the NYPD’s discriminatory policies like brutality, stop-and-frisk, and surveillance, and will end with a portrait of the present-day state of policing. Some of the sites we will discuss these themes on will include Wall Street, Foley Square, City Hall, Columbus Park, and One Police Plaza.