Gun Safety
The following Monday after I was sworn in, I had to report to Firearms section at Rodmans Neck in the Bronx. My instructor was a Camp Perry champion and he told my class a few things. First, keep your mouth shut and ears open for what I tell you might save your life. He then put a dime on his red barreled gun and pulled the trigger 6 times without the dime falling. Next, he said, once you pull the trigger you can’t have the bullet come back. Finally, he said you only have six bullets, learn to count them. Next we were taken to the firing range for qualification and told to aim at the center of mass on the Ugly man target. We shot at different ranges and with both strong and weak hand. Finally, after certification, we were told that in most Police related shootings, you could actually touch the opponent.
Shortly after my first arrest, the Department came up with the idea of steady tours from 6pm to 2am. Me and about 15 other officers “volunteered” for this new assignment. I was given Patrol Post #4, which encompasses the Jumel Mansion. When you step off w162 st and St Nicholas Ave it’s like going back to revolutionary war times. This mansion was in the northeast section of the precinct, a relatively low crime area.
It was here on my post that I met a Black entrepreneur named Bill Bailey and his wife Mimi. He had a takeout chicken and shrimp market. His business had a plywood wall with a small takeout window and it was here I almost discharged my revolver.
As I was sitting behind the wall eating my dinner with his wife, two young men came in and said it was a robbery. I started to pull my gun and she admonished me, telling the robbers that they should not fool around as she recognized them. They never knew what danger they were in.
This post included 555 Edgecombe Ave, the former home of Joe Louis, and across the street was a staircase down to the now removed Polo Grounds. It was here that I earned the trust of the Community and one parent passed on info re. drug dealing. This led to the recovery of a kilo of heroin and the removal of a major drug dealer by the Narcotics Division
We had been taught about the dangers of the job, but there was a new phenomenon where the Police were now the targets.There is a famous gate at the rear of Columbia or City university overlooking Morningside park. Well, during the Vietnam protests me and two other officers were assigned there. All of a sudden two male Blacks rode up on bicycles and one attempted to draw a holstered gun. What he did not know was that I had a second gun on me and outdrew him, his eyes went wide open and he had an immediate Afro.
We radioed for a supervisor and upon checking found he had a plastic gun and was trying to provoke an incident. The boss said get rid of the toy and make no arrests. The perpetrator had come maybe 1-2 seconds of losing his life if he had pulled the gun. No difference from 1972 till today.
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