As we celebrate Black History Month, NY1 Criminal Justice Reporter Dean Meminger sits down with African-American commanding officers in the NYPD. In his latest report, he introduces us to a police officer known as Uncle Rodney by some in the community.
Assistant Chief Rodney Harrison says he's the man in charge of making sure Police Commissioner James O'Neill's neighborhood policing initiative is on-track.
Right now, neighborhood coordinating officers, known as NCOs, are in 35 precincts and all of the housing police services areas.
"In the next month or so, we are going to hit up another four commands, and then in three months we are going to hit up another four commands," Harrison said. "So by the end of 2017, we should be done with three-quarters of the commands throughout the city.
"It is all about getting the right manpower and the right police officers, the right amount of police officers in the precincts to have the philosophy work in every single precinct," Harrison continued.
The NCOs are supposed to repair the relationship between community and officers, but Harrison says those NCOs are crime fighters first.
That can be a delicate balancing act, especially in the African-American community.
"One of the things that I benefit from is being able to relate with them. I grew up in Jamaica, Queens. It's not Harlem or Brooklyn, but growing up in a minority community, you kind of understand some of the demands or concerns that are there," Harrison said. "So they were receptive to my ideas, as well as I was able to understand some of their concerns and find a way to make things better regarding some of the gaps in communication."
NY1 caught up with the two-star chief at Denny Moe's Superstar Barbershop in Harlem, a community where he served six years as a precinct commander.
Some viewed him as a community asset, others as an advocate for stop-and-frisk. Harrison closed off 129th St. in 2012 and demanded residents show I.D. after multiple people were shot.
"I got information that the rival gang was going to go up and shoot anybody on the block and they didn't care who was out there," Harrison reflected.
"And the only thing I could think of, to remedy that, was kind of shut down the block temporarily and make sure that only residents that resided on 129 St. were able to walk down that block," he continued.
As an African-American chief, Harrison says he believes he's made a difference and he's very proud of his work with young people.
"I put my best foot forward to really show some of these kids that being a part of this department is not a bad thing," he said. "We're here to help at the end of the day, and they really appreciate it, and they're receptive to it."