On Tuesday, December 2nd, my group mates and I visited One Police Plaza. One Police Plaza is where the headquarters of New York City Police Department is located. The building is 14 stories located near the Brooklyn Bridge in Lower Manhattan. The New York City Police Commissioner is located on the tope floor. When we arrived, we had to go through multiple security screenings and were asked the purpose of our visit. We were than escorted by Officer David Gholson a seven-year-vet of the force. We were then given a tour of the facility. The building contains many different areas designated to a certain department or job. One of the most interesting places that we visited was the real time crime center, a large room that the police can use to survey the city and dispatch units. If a major event is happening in the city, groups such as the FBI, FDNY, and the Secret Service will send representatives. As an officer we met puts it, “Whenever something national happens, like for example the President being in New York, each NYPD subdivision, plus larger organizations like the FBI, Secret Service, and Coast Guard each send representatives to the center.” After our tour of the building, we were taken to the thirteenth floor, where we met with an interview an African-American Woman, Sergeant Chen-Shu, a member of the force for over twenty years. We talked to her about growing topics in the news such as the shooting of Michael Brown, and the killing of Eric Garner. When we asked her what one thing she would change about the NYPD force, she said: “If I had to change one thing, I would change the amount of minority officers in the NYPD. I would also give incentive for extra training.” What she means be this is that she would want better training and more officers if color. After, we went up to the 14th floor and took pictures in the Teddy Roosevelt room. This room was a dedication to Roosevelt, with a large bust carved in his image sitting in the corner of the room. I think that our group had a very good time and learned a lot of valuable information from this visit.
Justin,Sergent Chen-Shue, Daniel, and I
