The New York Police Department is the local law enforcement body which serves and protects the city of New York, with legal jurisdiction in Long Island, Westchester, and other surrounding counties.
As of 2019, the New York Police Department consisted of more than 39,000 police officers, with a few more thousand detectives and supervisors.
For every 214 New York City residents, there is one police officer. Some say that despite being one of the largest police departments in the world, officers go unnoticed in the streets and in communities.
“I don’t really notice police presence in my community too much. I see squad cars here and there, but they’re definitely not as present as one would expect them to be, considering there’s 39,000 of them,” said World Journalism Preparatory School sophomore Stephanie Sierra.
“I see the cops sometimes. Not too much though. I really only see them when a crime has happened or there’s a vehicle related accident somewhere. To be honest I know cops help people in danger, but I don’t really know what a police officer’s day looks like,” said seventh grader Caitlin Trinh.
Officer Singh at the 109th Precinct in Flushing, Queens works in the Community Affairs Office and works on developing stronger, more positive ties with their corresponding communities by educating the public on what police work consists of.
“I think building ties with the community and informing them on what’s going on in the police department is important, because many civilians stereotype all police officers and I believe that’s unfair. Something I would like to share is that the NYPD has taken some steps to increase community safety in everyday patrolling. NYPD officers are supposed to be wearing body cams in all instances when interacting with civilians and a major crime has occured. I think body cams are great because they reveal both sides of the story, not just the civilians side but the cops side as well. In addition, they make civilians feel more safe because they know the cops actions are being recorded and they’ll do everything in their job with professionalism,” he said.
