Buffalo Police Department

The City of Buffalo Police Department was established in 1871, taking over for the previous Niagara Frontier Police District that oversaw not only Buffalo, but also Tonawanda and Wheatfield. [1][8] The first BPD force had 204 men.[8]

Fifty-one Buffalo police officers have died in the line of duty. The first of these was George Dill who was shot and killed in 1865.[9]

The BPD appointed its first female police officer prior to World War I.[10]

The department hired George C. Sarsnett, its first Black policeman in 1919. He served the city for nineteen years dying of natural causes in 1937.[11] The second Black policeman, hired that same year was Oliver M. Bragg. He was promoted to detective and stayed with the police until his retirement in 1946.[12]

In 1930 the department changed the design of its badges. Press reports at the time indicated that Mayor Frank X. Schwab had distributed official badges to his friends causing confusion.[13]

In 2018, the BPD, along with the Buffalo Fire Department, moved into a new joint headquarters building in the former Michael J. Dillon Federal Courthouse.[14]

The BPD has a history of police brutality and racial profiling, in addition to other alleged controversies.[15][16][17] In its early days, the department was alleged to primarily serve upper-class business interests in Buffalo, including to quell labor unrest; business interests controlled the police commissioners and the superintendents.[8]

The department has also been accused of retaliation against officers who attempt to stop police misconduct. In one such prominent case, in 2006, BPD officer Cariol Horne stopped a white officer from holding a black suspect in a chokehold. Kwiatkowski instead said that Horne had jumped on him while he was struggling with the suspect. The incident was not filmed. An internal investigation resulted in no other officer supporting Horne's claims. For her intervention, she was fired and lost her pension one year before it went into effect.[15][6] Kwiatkowski was eventually jailed in 2009 after using excessive force on four handcuffed black teenagers.[18][19][20]

Press reports in 2019 indicated the Department had an unwritten policy since at least 1968 to not arrest Catholic priests. Although retired officers said they had never released a priest who had had sexual contact with a child, those detained for public masturbation or sexual activity with an adult were released after a phone call to the local diocese. The clergy of other faiths were not offered the same policy.[21]

Niagara Square shoving incident

Main article: Buffalo police shoving incident

External video

Footage of the incident between a 75-year-old man and officers, filmed by a WBFO news team

On June 4, 2020, amid the George Floyd protests in New York state, police officers from the Buffalo Police Department pushed 75-year-old Martin Gugino during a confrontation in Buffalo's Niagara Square, causing him to fall to the ground which left him bleeding from the ear. He was brought to the hospital and was in "serious but stable condition."[22] Two days later he was still listed as being in "critical condition" at Erie County Medical Center.[23] He suffered a brain injury as a result of the fall and was still unable to walk nearly two weeks after the assault. The BPD claimed in their official statement that the man "tripped and fell".[24][25] Following the incident, Buffalo mayor Byron Brown announced impending changes to the BPD.[26]

The department has several different squads used for specialized situations.

• Underwater Recovery Unit
• Homicide Cold Case Squad
• Crime Scene Investigation
• S.W.A.T, Strike Force (Disbanded 2018)
• K-9 Corps
• Emergency Response Team (currently unstaffed)
• Honor Guard
• Crisis Management Team
• Communication Division
• Motorcycle Squad
• Mounted Division
• Band and Drill Team
• Cartography Unit
• Pawnshop Squad
• Neighborhood Engagement Team
• Printing Department
• Identification Bureau[27]

Crime rates in the city are above national and state averages.

Violent Crime:

The Department has five districts: A-District, B-District, C-District, D-District, and E-District. Each district has a certain area of the city for which it is responsible; Each district is broken further into sectors.

Each district has a chief and one or two captains:

• Glock 22 .40 S&W Sidearm - standard issue sidearm, replaced Glock 17.
• Benelli Nova Shotgun-standard issue duty shotgun, used in situations when the rifle isn't needed and when the service pistol isn't needed. Medium range encounters.
• Expandable Baton Impact Weapon - used as a less than lethal weapon.
• Straight stick Impact Weapon - used as a less than lethal crowd control weapon, not commonly carried, but issued during said events.
• Pepper spray OC - used as a Non-lethal defensive spray. Leaves no permanent damage.
• Handcuffs - used to detain subjects.

Buffalo Police Special Weapons and Tactics

• Glock 22 .40 S&W sometimes outfitted with a TLR-1 weapon light.
• Colt AR-15 - M4A1 and Commando models utilized, usually equipped with different sights, flashlights, fore grips, usually more customized than usual patrol rifles.
• Heckler & Koch MP5 - sub-machine gun utilized for certain scenarios in close quarters where the M4's would be to large and for other incidents.
• Benelli M3 Super 90 - Entry Model with a 14" barrel with some equipped with flashlights.

• List of law enforcement agencies in New York
• Erie County Sheriff's Office