Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Annette L. Spellen, 2016.Biographical NoteAnnette Spellen is a retired detective of the Anti-Crime unit and the Department of Investigations (DOI). She was born in Harlem, NY, in 1949, and moved to Brooklyn at a young age. She became a policewoman for New York City's 13th Precinct in 1969, where she was able to work under some of the earliest ranking women in the NYPD. She was affected during the layoffs of 1975, but returned in 1978. She spent three years undercover, after which she was promoted to Detective. After her time in the Anti-Crime unit, she worked in white collar crime for the DOI, and then became part of the Department's Hostage Negotiation Team. She retired in 1993, but continued to actively volunteer for the NYPD Guardians Association, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), and the Policewomen's Endowment Association, and others
Scope and ContentsAnnette Spellen describes growing up in Harlem, Bushwick, and Crown Heights, and changes that have affected the community there. She discusses in detail the struggles for women's equality and racial equality in the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Two organizations that were particularly important in those struggles were the Policewomen's Endowment Association and the Guardians Association. She shares memories of the friends and mentors she had in the Guardians Association, as well as details about her work as an undercover officer and a detective with the NYPD Anti-Crime unit, Department of Investigations, and Hostage Negotiation Team
SubjectsAccess ConditionsCopyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2016
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