I’ve been going back to school to work on a history degree.

For most of us who are serious firearms collectors we are already amateur historians; I’m just trying to make my contributions a little more polished by learning from the pros!

I’m trying to put together a definitive monograph on New York City Police Department Trophy Guns.

I know some of the folks here have a Trophy Gun or two in their collection.

Known Trophy Guns:
Mayor’s Trophy
Police Commissioners Trophy
Chief Inspectors Trophy
Hiram C. Bloomingdale Trophy
Harold M. Gall Trophy
Harry Hershfield Trophy
George Kelrick Trophy
Frank J. Keeler Trophy
Edwin R. Masback (sometimes spelled Masbeck) Trophy
SPRING 3100 Trophy
Citizens Trophy

I’m asking that if you have one, you send me the best images you have on it as well as any data you may have such as factory letters, newspaper clippings. etc.

If you’re a dinosaur who actually received a Trophy Gun when you graduated from NYPD PA (looking at you Wellfleet MA!), I’d like to ask you a bunch of questions.

I’d be using it in my finished thesis project and would credit it as appropriate or anonymously if you prefer. Ultimately, if I ever finish my book, it'd be a chapter in that.

Any help would be appreciated.

Best,
RM Vivas
[email protected]

Good luck with your project.
Regards
AlanD

I know that it is not exactly what you're looking for, but the closest that I have is one that was awarded by the Police Department County of Nassau in 1972... Here are a few photos:







Here's a link to a thread on this one, Well-Carried Chiefs Special - Interesting Engraving

One of the members of the forum did some research and found that this "...Chief [special] was won by the late Wayne Billian. He was a Nassau County PD cop assigned to the Ambulance Bureau (still in existence!). He remained in the Bureau even after it was civilian. He passed away from cancer quite a while ago. He was hired on 5/05/1972, Shield #108, Serial #5375. Serial number means he was the 5,374th. cop hired by PDNC and he retired on 4/07/1999."

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Not all trophy NYC PD guns were new S&W revolvers
I remember one which was a USED .32 Colt Pocket Positive.
It is now in the possession of a NYC PD official, ( gifted to him by the original trophy holder, a retired NYC PD Captain )

Based on what I've seen so far (and that's a serious caveat; who knows what else is lurking out there) all the Trophy Guns were new out of Equipment Bureau inventory, even during WW@ and Korea.

It makes sense that Trophy Guns would be new, if for no ther reason, than when they were presented, they were presented in the box. The vast majority of presentation photos I've seen show the guns in open boxes serial numbered to the gun.

I did ask why property clerk guns weren't 'recycled' into the police department arms inventory. The response was that because there was no way of telling what abuse had been heaped on the thing before it came into police hands. They didn't want to 'convert' a gun from evidence to inventory and then have it blow up on the second shot because the previous owner was loading super max handloads for 10 years in it.

Some guns were 'converted" but that was only in emergencies (M1 carbines during the 1960's riots) and some special handguns that went to undercover people who needed non-police type guns to establish their cover (think gold plated Desert Eagles).

While I don't discount the possibility of a used gun winding up a Trophy Gun, I haven't seen any documents yet to support that.

I suspect that, as is the case in really old guns, the oral history may have been mixed up a bit as it was handed down.

Still, stranger things have happened on 'Da Job.

Best,
RM Vivas

I am obliged to not reveal the names of the retired NYC PD Captain ( now about 90 years old), nor the gentleman who now has possession of the .32 Pocket Positive. Know both gentlemen for many, many years. The retired Captain since shortly after he joined the department up to the present. We are still friends and correspond on the computer and on the long distance telephone..he in NY and me in Florida. The other much younger gentleman is currently an official in the NYC PD.

My looking into the history of Trophy Guns awarded by the New York City Police Department has been both enlightening and vexing.

So far I can account for perhaps 500 guns by award documentation (mainly articles in the department magazine SPRING 3100 and newspaper clippings). By serial numbers found in extant NYCPD records I can account for about 100 so far.

The idea originally was to write this for my history degree (which I’m still doing and definitely going to hand this in as a thesis) as well as a chapter for my eventual book on NYCPD firearms. However, as I dig more and more into Trophy Guns, I’m thinking it would make a nifty niche book all by itself.

The original plan was just to identify the different types of awards and then list who received them.The more I dig, the more interesting stuff I find.

Not surprisingly, the Trophy Guns went to the best and the brightest of each police academy class. It would follow therefore, that those bright lights of the police recruit world would go on to do great things within the Department.

I have a picture of a trophy gun presentation from the very early 1960’s and in it you see seven probationary patrolman holding their engraved Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolvers. If one were to fast forward about 30 years you would see those same 7 individuals and amongst them would now be a chief of transit police, one head of a division at police headquarters, one deputy chief and the rest having also been raised up the ranks.

On the other hand, it was not all sunshine and stun grenades. There is an obituary for one trophy gun winner which explains how he killed his wife and then himself with his “service revolver“ and since he had won an duty-revolver it would not be a stretch to imagine that was the weapon used.
Similarly another trophy winner was killed in a gunfight in 1947.

On the much lighter side however a Mayor's Trophy winner from 1963 became somewhat notorious for having brought a lawsuit against the Department for disciplining him for having sex outside of wedlock. This particular officer wound up in the Trial Room because he was accused of cohabitating with a woman not his wife and having relations with her. This was 1965, so one can kind of understand the issue. Ultimately he prevailed. He is the subject of a very tongue in cheek article in the New York Daily News “Lawyer Out To End The Ban On Sex And The Single Cop”.

There is an awful lot of interesting stuff in the study of these Trophy Guns. Part of it is the guns themselves and what some of these folks did to merit the guns. But also it's interesting to look at the careers that some of these people had and where it took them. Documentation of these winners after graduation is sketchy at best, limited to the occasional newspaper article or more often an obituary ( usually from Florida) that states Joe Blow died at age 89, spent 35 years on the NYPD where he was awarded the Mayors Trophy in 1959, and retired as a Lieutenant in the street crimes division. That sort of thing.

One of the things with about doing semi-serious research on any topic is that you start become so familiar with it that you figure you know MOST stuff about it and while you find small new things here and there, after a certain point you give up on finding anything major.

Then fate throws a high and inside curve ball that catches you right in the kisser.

I'm going through the 1961 Off-Duty sales ledger book from the Equipment bureau that lists 1961-1963 gun sale. I found about 35 presentation guns listed by serial number.

Fine.

Masback Trophy
Keeler Trophy
Bloomingdale Trophy
Renlin Trophy

Renlin Trophy? What the hell is the Renlin Trophy?

There is a 1962 entry marked RENLIN TROPHY in with the usual Trophy Guns. I've never seen or heard of a Renlin Trophy?

Can any dinosaurs help me with this?

This is an
absolutely incomplete list (missing SkyCop and many others) of NYPD Trophy Gun recipients.

My original plan was to have the entries look like this:



19xx – <name of trophy> Trophy Prob. Ptl. John E. LAW, Graduation date September 18, 1917, Shield#3100, Command: 61 Pct. S&W M&P Ser. # C1232456 Equip. Bur. #D1234 Book 62-68 Page 24



The problem I’ve run into is that as I dig through old newspapers, annual reports, etc. I find some really cool details about these folks. One guy rescued the City Sheriff from a burning car wreck, another took part in USS Akron rescue, and of course some pretty serious gunfights. A couple guys were LOD deaths and a few had “negative outcomes” in the Trial Room.

While a lot of these guys did 20 years pounding a beat or standing a foot post, quite a number went up the ladder. Quite a lot of LT’s, DI’s and full Inspectors. A few Division commanders. And of course, this entry:

1967 – Bloomingdale Trophy Prob. Ptl. Raymond W. KELLY, Shield #15978, rose through ranks to serve as 37th and 41st Police Commissioner of New York City Colt Detective Special #922917 (Book 67 Off-Duty, p. 132, Equipment Bureau #A3802)

Here’s a fellow who had pretty interesting life -before- ‘Da Job:

1924 – Bloomingdale Trophy Prob. Ptl. John J. LENIHAN, June 24, 1924; class of 300 recruits; died May 1988, obituary states "…age 92…retired NYPD….veteran Mexican Border & WW1…"

Or this fellow:

1921 – Bloomingdale Trophy Prob. Ptl. Patrick Edward F. WALSH, September 1, 1921, Class of 96 or 104 recruits (conflicting accounts), Died April 29,1993, obituary describes "..Former FBI and DEA agent…Honor Legion NYPD….Marine Corp Assoc…"

Right now I’m waiting on a bunch of documents that should let me put serial numbers and ledgerbook entries to about 170 individual guns, the rest are going to be catch as catch can from other sources. Anyway, I’ve attached a PDF document of what I’m going to call the subchapter that lists the Trophy Guns recipients and some details about them. There’s no serial number data in there YET. I’m working on that. Input appreciated.

Attached Files

SWpost.pdf (427.8 KB, 8 views)

I’ll send a pm