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When the New York World's Fair opened on
April 22, New York became host city to the world for the second
time in twenty-five years. The challenge of protecting life and
property and preserving public order was never more sharply focused
on the department.
As the opening day of the Fair approached,
threats and boasts of wild and unreasonable actions against the
Fair grew in volume and intensity almost daily. Added to this
problem was the booming influx of out-of-towners arriving by
auto; vanguard of an anticipated seventy million World's Fair
visitors. Never had the magnitude and complexity of providing
police service been more overwhelming. Careful decisions and
plans were being made to provide the procedures, the manpower
and the tools to do the vital work. Some plans and procedures
were put into immediate operation, others were held over until
the opening day of the Fair.
Intensive press campaigns of public education
were carried out to inform the people of the civil rights to
which they are entitled and the department's responsibility for
preserving public peace and protecting the rights of all the
people. A new Queens Safety District was created to provide for
the rapid, safe and convenient use of the parkways, highways
and streets. The uniformed force was strengthened to more than
26,000 men and women. The boundaries of the 110th Precinct were
realigned to include the World's Fair properties. Unity of knowledge
and action were arranged with the Secret Service, the World's
Fair Police and the Transit Police.
All during this tense period, subtle changes
were becoming more and more apparent among certain segments of
the civil rights movement. Disunity in the movement was headlined
daily in the press. Throughout this sensitive interval the department
maintained a discreet silence and methodically and systematically
went about the business of developing calm and mature plans to
handle the many and complex problems that must arise from such
a situation.
As the opening day of the Fair loomed near,
vocal warning signals of pending massive civil disobedience were
openly flaunted. Organized groups fanned the fires of hate, instilling
fear and uneasiness in the hearts of the men and women of this
city. The threat of mob action at the Fair seemed a very imminent
and very real possibility. Still the department kept its confidence.
Few public statements were made concerning plans. No detailed
plan of police action was outlined for the press. Splinter groups
of individuals -- whose threats were repudiated by their own
national leaders -- threatened loudly and openly to disrupt the
Fair's opening, to jeopardize the lives of citizens by reckless
stall-ins on roads leading to the Fair. Their aim was to embarrass
the city and the Fair in the eyes of the world, and to create
public chaos.
On April 22, target day of the Fair's opening,
the extraordinary extent of police planning and encompassing
protection was revealed. This department met a pattern of premeditated
civil disobedience with a well coordinated pattern of public
protection.
An emergency chart, extending tours of
duty to twelve hours and canceling days off, provided the necessary
manpower not only to cope with the problems in and around the
Fair, but to make certain that the rest of the city was adequately
guarded.
Radio cars, strategically located, ringed
the complex road systems around the Fair. Each car was manned
by uniformed patrolmen.
Tow trucks, manned by policemen, were on
hand.
Crash helmeted motorcycle men waited beside
their machines to respond instantly to emergency calls.
Heavy details of uniformed men and detectives
patrolled the parkway entrances, exits and overpasses.
Overhead, police helicopters hovered beneath
cloudy skies intent on spotting stall-ins or breakdowns on the
parkways.
The police security net was as tight as
it could be made. The Fair opened on schedule at 10:00 a.m. There
were few stall-ins and few breakdowns; traffic flowed freely
on the parkways around the Fair and around the city throughout
the day.
However, there were incidents that day
-- disturbing and shocking incidents. Incidents completely divorced
from the vital aspects and merits of the fight for equal rights.
Men hurled themselves in front of automobiles; police officers
were insulted, vilified, spat upon; the President of the United
States was heckled during a speech; and the singing of the National
Anthem was drowned out by the shouts and jeers of the demonstrators.
But the police did themselves proud that day -- they were everywhere,
taking charge, suppressing violence and restoring order. The
professional training of the force was demonstrated time and
again under the most trying circumstances. Each officer proved
himself sensitive to the necessary limits of police authority;
each officer performed his duty of protecting the rights of all
the people with tireless efficiency. And it cannot be emphasized
too strongly that out of all that confusion, violence and disorder
-- not one specific complaint of abuse of police authority was
registered against a single member of this department.
How well the job was done was reflected
not only in high praise from the press, but also in the many
telephone calls and letters of praise received at Headquarters
from people in all walks of life who witnessed the events of
the memorable day.
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