New York City Housing Authority Police Department

New York City Housing Authority Police Department
Patch of the New York City Housing Authority Police Department
Shield of the New York City Housing Authority Police Department
Agency overview
Formed	1952
Dissolved	1995
Superseding agency	New York City Police Department
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	City of New York in the state of New York, USA
Map of New York City Housing Authority Police Department's jurisdiction.
Size	1,214.4 km²
Population	8,274,527
Legal jurisdiction	New York City
General nature	Law enforcement Local civilian police
Specialist jurisdiction	Buildings and lands occupied or explicitly controlled by the institution and the institution's personnel, and public entering the buildings and precincts of the institution.
Operational structure
Police Officers	2700+
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The New York City Housing Authority Police Department was a law enforcement agency in New York City that existed from 1952 to 1995, which was then merged into the NYPD. The roots of this organization go back to 1934 and the creation of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia authorized the hiring of security guards to patrol the city's public housing buildings. These guards eventually were trained and became the first officers of the Housing Police, which was officially created in 1952. The Housing Police, along with the New York City Transit Police, was merged into the New York City Police Department in 1995 by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and continues today as the Housing Bureau.

In 1934, under the authority of the NYS Public Housing Law, the NYCHA was established. Housing Authority developments quickly began to sprout up around the five boroughs of New York City. It didn't take long for the City to realize that these developments, some like little cities, provided unique policing challenges. The initial response was a simple one - the formation of a security guard corps with individual guards assigned to specific developments.

As time passed the problems of law enforcement throughout the City became more complex. Calls for service to the NYPD from housing developments increased dramatically, and it became clear that a more professional law enforcement component than the guard service was needed to deal with the complexities of policing diverse, decentralized public housing developments.

In December 1952 the NYCHA Police Service was formed to answer the above challenge.

Initially, the officers assigned to this new group were designated as "special patrolmen." This designation gave them limited police powers, including the authority to effect arrests and to carry firearms while on duty. The qualifications for employment in this new group were more stringent than those required of the former guard service, and the training afforded them, more comprehensive.