At a time when we’re debating where policing is going, we’re going to tell you where the police came from. Guided by Peabody award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika, Empire City will provide the first accessible narrative history of the American police and its place in popular culture. Who are the police? And why were police departments created in the first place? To find answers, we’re going to tell the origin story of the largest police force in the world: The NYPD. We begin in the late 1800’s at a moment when the entire police force was on trial. It’s the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the NYPD, and it all plays out like a high stakes courtroom drama. What follows is the action-packed account of how the NYPD got to this point and what happened next. It involves Black abolitionists fighting slave patrols in the courts of Gotham; two rival police forces duking it out for power at City Hall; the origins of the true crime genre; and how the NYPD spread their tactics worldwide.

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July 27th, 1996. Atlanta, Georgia. During a free concert at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, security guard Richard Jewell spotted an abandoned knapsack and reported it to a GBI agent. Authorities soon discovered the knapsack contained a live bomb and the agent and Jewell began evacuating people from the area. The bomb detonated minutes later, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others. Days later, Jewell became the main suspect in the bombing.

Music by The Captain of True Crime Garage.

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Jeremy Foy is a former Marine and a former Federal Law Enforcement officer. He has been releasing videos on tiktok stating that he knows that his grandfather, Richard Hoffman, a former police officer, was the Zodiac killer. I have no way of knowing if he was. There are many suspects. If nothing else, this episode should serve as a reminder that the Zodiac Killer murdered multiple people and has thus far gotten away with it. I hope that the Zodiac killer's identity will be revealed someday so that we can finally mark the case as solved.

Tom Voigt's website: ZodiacKiller.com

Jeremy's tiktok: jfoy_3.0

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July 9. 1993. Sedona, Arizona. In the early morning hours of July 9, 1993, 10-year-old Nikki Wasilishin was awoken by police shining flashlights into her bedroom. She learned shortly after that her mother, Stephanie, was dead, shot once in the neck in the master bedroom of the home while Nikki was sleeping. For the next 30 years, investigators made no arrests. Now Nikki is trying to get her mother’s case reexamined and those responsible put behind bars, because, to her, there is only one right answer: her mother was murdered.

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November 30th, 1984. Winnipeg, Manitoba Province. 13-year-old Candace Derksen disappeared while walking home from school. Weeks later, her body was found in a shed. She had been tied up and left to die of hypothermia. Over two decades later, DNA testing identified a suspect in the murder.

I special thank you to newspapers.com

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On November 6, 2001, at Keystone State Park in Pennsylvania, Dr. Andrew Bagby was found dead with five gunshot wounds. Dr. Shirley Turner, a recent girlfriend, became the number one suspect. She fled to Canada, her home country, and awaited a decision on extradition. In July 2002, Shirley gave birth to Andrew’s son, Zachary Andrew Turner. Andrew’s parents, Kate and David Bagby moved to Canada and fought for custody of Zachary and justice for Andrew. But the case took an unexpected and terrible turn which prompted many to ask the question, 'how could the authorities have let this happen?'

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May 8th, 1996. El Reno, Oklahoma. Deputies found the body of Terrance Yeakey, an Oklahoma City police officer, in a field off a rural road. Terrance died of a gunshot wound to the head, but he also had cuts on his neck and wrists. A year earlier, Terrance saved at least three people in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. He did not want to accept a medal of valor for his heroic actions, and he came to believe that the official story about the bombing was a lie.

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August 22nd, 2004. Coral Gables, Florida. John Sutton called 911 after an armed intruder broke into his home and shot him and his wife Susan. John was the sole survivor. John’s son Christopher arrived at the crime scene and quickly offered an alibi to detectives, triggering their suspicions immediately.

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