Police officer carry the casket of Holder during his wake on Tuesday

WE ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF OUR OFFICERS.  NY CITY ROCKS.  GOD BLESS MAYOR DE BLASSIO AND COMMISSIONER BRATTON!!!

NY says farewell to Guyanese-born cop

October 29, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under News, Source

The late Randolph Holder

(New York Times) For the fourth time in less than a year, they gathered, rank-and-file New York City officers in their dress blue uniforms, colleagues from distant police departments, ordinary New Yorkers thrust into mourning by the killing of yet another officer.

Some outside Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Queens on Wednesday wore colorful necklaces of the Guyanese flag or bore vibrant umbrellas of red, yellow and green in remembrance of the slain officer, Randolph Holder, who immigrated from Guyana and brought with him a family tradition of police work.

Thousands more stood outside the cathedral in silence as a strong wind drove an incessant rain. In places along the wet streets, blue ribbon rosettes blew in the wind, torn from their place around lamp posts and tree trunks. Inside, relatives and friends were joined by city leaders, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton.

As the white hearse rolled past, flanked by eight slow-stepping officers, every police officer stood at attention. Drummers in kilts stood beside bagpipe players, beating a slow cadence. The service began just after 3:30 p.m.

Across the city, officers rose on Wednesday, black mourning bands around their badges, to take part in the majestic ritual — the bagpipes and coffin covered with a flag, the helicopter flyover and motorcycle-led procession — all the while contemplating the dangers that stalk the most routine patrol.

In December, a gunman fatally shot two uniformed officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn Street before taking his own life. Several months later, in May, Officer Brian Moore died after confronting a person he suspected of being armed on a residential street in Queens. Prosecutors charged Demetrius Blackwell in the killing.

On Tuesday, a day before Officer Holder’s funeral, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Tyrone Howard, a repeat drug offender from the East River Houses, in the killing. The authorities believe he had been fleeing the scene of a shooting near his home when he encountered Officer Holder around 8:30 p.m. and fired once from a .40-caliber Glock handgun, striking him in the head. Mr. Howard, 30, was wounded by Officer Holder’s partner and arrested soon after.

John Mangan, an outspoken Police Department booster, walked in the rain on Wednesday holding a long pole bearing the names of Officers Ramos, Liu, Moore and, now, Holder. Mr. Mangan had been to all the funerals, but gone from his sign this time was any criticism of Mayor de Blasio.
Indeed, the political acrimony that clung to the two funerals late last year and in January — coming as they did amid roiling national debate and protest over police brutality — has faded. Officers who turned their back on the Mayor for the funerals of Officers Ramos and Liu stood respectfully during that of Officer Moore.

In its place, common bonds of service that united four officers from diverse backgrounds, from Queens, China, Long Island and Guyana.

Officer Holder came to New York 12 years ago to join his father, a former police officer in Guyana. He worked as a security guard and longed to join the Police Department. One of Officer Holder’s supervisors, a retired New York City police inspector, took an interest in the young man and helped him navigate the byzantine application process, officials said. He joined the department in 2010. He wore badge number 13340.

Officer Holder, 33, knew well the dangers of the job. A decorated officer who worked with a plainclothes unit in some of Manhattan’s most crime-troubled housing developments, he checked in regularly with relatives in Lodge, his hometown suburb of Georgetown, Guyana.

Though privately he fretted over the presence of guns on the streets he patrolled, on the night of October 20, he and a partner, Omar Wallace, went toward the promenade, along the Harlem River, where an armed gunman had been seen fleeing.

On Wednesday, police officers in knee-length dark raincoats shook themselves off in a foyer of the cathedral. A thicket of blue uniforms — worn by officers from places such as Annapolis, Md., Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Waller County, Tex. — stretched for blocks on Merrick Boulevard, in both directions from the church in Jamaica, Queens.

At noon, Leeds Jean, a member of the 67th Precinct’s clergy council, stepped outside in a long royal blue shirt and black skullcap and blew six times from a shofar, a horn.

“The shofar sound is the sound of mourning,” said Mr. Jean, who described himself as a Judeo-Christian minister at True Vine Ministries/The Last Resort in Brooklyn.

Loraine Stephen, 63, who is from Guyana and now lives in Jamaica, arrived early hoping for a seat near Officer Holder’s family. Though she did not know Officer Holder, she said she felt immense gratitude toward him.

“I am proud, as a Guyanese,” said Ms. Stephen, describing Officer Holder as a “fallen hero.”

Billy Plume Sr., a contractor from Ronkonkoma, stood under an awning near the church flipping through screen shots of what he said were text messages between Officer Holder and his fellow officers, which included Mr. Plume’s son.

One of the messages was a question: Better to be a lion in charge of 1,000 sheep, or a sheep in charge of 1,000 lions?

Officer Holder responded by sending a picture of a lion, and a message that it was better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.

Some mourners bore umbrellas of red, yellow and green in remembrance of Officer Holder, who emigrated from Guyana

Police officers from New York and beyond gathered in Queens for the funeral.

Leeds Jean, a member of the 67th Precinct’s clergy council, blew from a shofar before the funeral. “The shofar sound is the sound of mourning,” he said.

‘He was a true hero of Guyana’ – final tribute for Guyana-born NYPD officer

November 1, 2015, Source

NYPD officers braved the rain in a final salute as the body of officer Randolph Holder arrived at the Brickdam Cathedral on Saturday (Delano Williams photo)

RANDOLPH Holder, the Guyana-born New York police officer killed in the line of duty, was on Saturday hailed as a hero by his colleagues at the final funeral ceremony held in Georgetown.

“He is a true hero of Guyana; you should all be proud of him,” said Captain Reymondo Mundo at the funeral service held in the morning at the Brickdam Cathedral. Mundo serves as the commander of the Police Service Area #5, which is in charge of policing New York City Housing Developments in the 23rd, 25th and 28th New York City Police Precincts. He was among some 60 NYPD officers who came to Guyana for the final tributes for their colleague, with whom they “chased the bad guys together.”

Holder, 33, was killed on October 20 while chasing a suspect.

At a moving ceremony in New York, the city’s Police Commissioner, William J. Bratton, promoted Holder to detective and gave him the same badge number his father had while he worked as a policeman in Guyana, # 9657.

Holder’s body arrived in Guyana on Thursday evening, and was kept at the Merriman’s Funeral Home until Saturday morning, when it was retrieved for the funeral service.

The body arrived at the Brickdam Cathedral to a salute by NYPD officers, who stood through an early- morning downpour. Several persons stood on the road with umbrellas to watch the proceedings, until the body was lifted to the entrance of the cathedral and then wheeled inside for the beginning of the church service, which was attended by a few hundred persons, including the NYPD officers, Holder’s family members, and a few outsiders.

Diane Mitchell, 46, a housewife, was among those at the cathedral. She had never known Holder, but watched the New York funeral on TV and was impressed that Holder was honoured in such a way, and so she decided to attend the funeral service.

“I just came to observe; from what I saw on TV, he must have been someone who did a lot of good,” she said. She brought along a friend with her to the cathedral.

The obituary was read by Arika Noel, the wife of Kelon Noel, Holder’s younger brother. She described the slain cop as humble and responsible, and noted that at times in New York he would help shovel snow from the neighbour’s driveway.

“No one ever saw him angry,” she said, echoing the sentiments of family members, neighbours and friends, who all described him as a cool and calm person.

“He listened, and was never judgmental,” she said, adding that he lived his life as an officer with a sense of purpose.

“He had his life all mapped out,” Arika Noel said of her late brother-in-law.

Mundo then asked the NYPD contingent (about 100 who came in for the funeral) to stand, and he said a prayer for them, asking God to keep them safe and walk before them.

Desmond King, an uncle, described Holder as a good man who had taken on the NYPD job even while knowing the risks involved. “It was a risk he had to take, and it’s the risk heroes do to make a difference,” King said.

Tributes were also delivered by members of the Guyanese Ex-Presidential Guard and Immigration Services of New York, and the Ex-Guyana Defence Force Association of New York.

Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green, in his tribute, urged all to emulate Holder, calling him an “honourable citizen.”

“Let us all humbly do what he did in our country and elsewhere, to rid the world of crime and those elements who are intent on tarnishing our societies.”

Guyanese singer and current Miss Guyana, Lisa Punch, paid tribute in a song called “One Last Time.”

After Mayor Green’s tribute, President David Granger arrived at the cathedral.

“The President knew the grandmother of Holder, Elizabeth Lovell, since he [the President] was a young boy living in the Corentyne, Region 6,” the President’s Office said in announcing that he would attend the funeral service.

After the arrival of the President, the eulogy was read by Holder’s aunt, Marcia Lovell, who described him as someone who had always lived with hope and optimism. She recalled that Holder would always say that even if you don’t have a lot in life, you can still find fulfilment in helping others.

Also attending the funeral service were U.S. Ambassador Perry Holloway; Guyana’s Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan; and Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud.

President David Granger, U.S. Ambassador Perry Halloway and his wife at the Brickdam Cathedral Service (Delano Williams photo)

Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, and Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green at the Brickdam Cathedral Service (Delano Williams photo)

The NYPD’s Lieutenant Scott Stein presents the flag of the NYPD to Randolph Holder Snr., who had served in the Guyana Police Force (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

The casket, draped with the flag of the NYPD and containing the body of Randolph Holder, is rested on the ground at the Le Repentir Cemetery, before being placed in the tomb (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

Members of the Guyana Police Force Band make their way into the Le Repentir Cemetery (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

The Guyana Police Force in a 21-gun salute (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo

Mr Carl Bowen, Brand Manager of Fly Jamaica, with Guyanese of the NYPD who travelled to Guyana for the funeral of their colleague, Randolph Holder. Fly Jamaica brought home the body of Holder and also provided first-class tickets for Mr. and Mrs. Holder (father and step-mother) of the deceased and for the NYPD pall-bearers. The airline also provided discounted tickets for other family members and NYPD officers (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

A Guyanese member of the NYPD and her relatives in Guyana (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)