NEW YORK (TIP): Captain Pratima Bhullar Maldonado, an Indian-origin police officer has become the highest-ranking South Asian woman in the New York Police Department, a position she was promoted to recently.
Maldonado runs the 102nd Police Precinct in South Richmond Hill, Queens. She was promoted to the rank of Captain last month, media reported on Monday, May 15. The mother of four was born in Punjab and lived there until she was 9 before moving to Queens in New York. “It feels like coming home. I spent more than 25 years of my life in this precinct when I was growing up,” Maldonado said.
South Richmond Hill is home to one of the largest Sikh communities in the country.
“Going to the same Gurdwara that I did as a child, and now as a captain, I love it,” Maldonado said as she visited the Gurdwara. She told the media her new role will help with community policing.
“There are language barriers, people who can’t speak the language, English is a second language. I’ve seen that firsthand growing up here,” she said.
Maldonado is the highest-ranking South Asian woman in the NYPD—a position she was promoted to last month. But it wasn’t easy climbing the ranks, the report said.
“Getting out there and working and protecting people that are cursing you out sometimes and not appreciating what you’re doing, but you still got to do what you got to do,” Maldonado said.
“It’s a big responsibility. I want to be a better and positive example, not only for my community, for other females, kids that see us every day. Because that would change their perspective of how they view law enforcement,” she added.
According to the NYPD, of the department’s 33,787 members, 10.5 per cent are Asian.
“I feel extremely proud. It’s good to show other up and coming Asian, South Asian females that if you work hard enough you too can climb the ladder of success,” Maldonado said.
As New York City celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Maldonado reflected on her late father.
“My dad actually drove a taxi for many years. He supported us. He was a hard worker. He passed away in 2006, before I became a cop. He would have been so proud right now,” she said.
Tag: New York police
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Indian American Punjab-born police officer Pratima Bhullar Maldonado becomes highest-ranking South Asian woman in NYPD
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Off-duty NYPD cop Adeed Fayaz dies three days after being shot
NEW YORK (TIP): The off-duty NYPD cop and married father of two who was shot and critically wounded during a botched robbery attempt in Brooklyn over the weekend was declared dead on Tuesday, February 7, law enforcement sources said.
Officer Adeed Fayaz, 26, a five-year veteran of the NYPD, had been on life support at Brookdale Hospital since the cowardly attack in East New York on Saturday, February 4 evening.
He was pronounced dead at 3:25 p.m., sources said. Flags were later seen flying at half-mast at his 66th Precinct stationhouse in Borough Park.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and both rank-and-file and brass from the department were at the hospital throughout the day, comforting grieving relatives, including several who flew in from Pakistan.
“What can you say about a police officer, it’s someone who dedicated their life to serve and protect,” said retired cop Ahmed Nasser, who knew Fayaz from the NYPD Muslim Officer’s Society.
“To me, it’s a family,” Nasser said. “It doesn’t matter if I know them. A cop is a family.”
Hundreds of cops, including top NYPD brass, lined the streets outside of the hospital as officer Fayaz’s body was led into the back of an ambulance destined for the city Medical Examiner’s Office shortly before 7 p.m.
His grieving relatives held onto Fayaz’s two young sons during the somber scene.
A fellow police officer and friend of Fayaz who was outside the hospital described the slain cop as “my own nephew.” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said Fayaz’s family was at his bedside when he was taken off life support.
“It’s a difficult day. You see police officers standing shoulder to shoulder with tears in their eyes,” said Lynch.
“This was a police officer who loved his job. Since he was a young person, he wanted to become not just a police officer, but a New York City police officer. He was viciously gunned down in the streets of Brooklyn.”
“The hole in their heart will never go away,” he said about the family. “There is no such thing as closure.”
Fayaz was shot once in the head after he and his brother-in-law responded to a Facebook Marketplace ad for a Honda Pilot and the two were ambushed by an armed would-be robber. The pair had $24,000 in cash on them at the time, police sources said.
The gunman, identified by police on Tuesday as Randy “Popper” Jones, 38, of Harlem, was charged with murder and attempted robbery in the attack, according to police officials.
Jones allegedly lured Fayaz and his relative down a dark alley on Ruby Street, pulled a gun and demanded money — opening fire “almost immediately.”
The cop was struck once in his left temple, with the bullet exiting the back of his skull, and went down.
His brother-in-law then pulled the gun from the cop’s holster and returned fire as the shooter fled.
Jones fled but cops tracked him down to a Rockland County hotel — where they took him into custody on Monday, February 6, using Fayaz’s handcuffs.
Police found the getaway vehicle, a black BMW SUV registered to Jones’ mother, on 129th Street and Park Avenue on Sunday and impounded it, with crime-scene detectives examining it at the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn on Monday.
Randy “Popper” Jones, 38, of Harlem, is now expected to face murder charges in the attack.