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‘Crime fighter’ honored by NYPD at street co-naming ceremony in Richmond Hill

Members of Jack Maple's family (left) along with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton (center), Councilman Eric Ulric and Assemblyman Mike Miller present Jack Maple Way.
RIDGEWOOD TIMES/Photos by Anthony Giudice

New York’s Finest gathered outside of the childhood home of a beloved former deputy commissioner in Richmond Hill to honor his memory during a street co-naming ceremony Monday morning.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, Councilman Eric Ulrich, Assemblyman Mike Miller, the NYPD Ceremonial Unit, Community Board 9, the Richmond Hill Historical Society and members of the community were on hand at the corner of 108th Street and Park Lane South for the unveiling of Jack Maple Place.

During his time with the NYPD, Maple rose through the ranks to become the deputy commissioner for crime-fighting strategies, serving under Bratton during his first tenure in former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s first term.

“There is so much I could say about Jack, so many stories to tell, I think like all of you, I miss him every day,” Bratton said. “I miss the personality, the humor, the toughness, the character and it is safe to say when they made Jack, they broke the mold and there will never be another one. He was truly one of a kind.”

“If there’s two words that describe Jack Maple, the epitome of all he was, is those two words: crime fighter,” Bratton added. “That was the essence of Jack Maple. We had to be where the crime was, we had to be where the criminals were, because that’s what we as cops do.”

Maple worked hard to keep the community he grew up in safe.

“Let me first begin by saying thank you, thank you to the family of Jack Maple,” Councilman Ulrich said. “Thank you to all the men and women of the New York City Police Department who have made this community and this city a safer place to live, to work, to raise a family. And that is made possible because, in no small part, due to the good ideas and the due diligence to someone like Jack Maple.”

During his time as a transit officer, Maple is credited with the creation of CompStat, a crime strategy program that increased accountability within the NYPD that is still used today.

“Truly a revolutionary idea which transformed the way the police department did policing, turned the city, turned the other cities around. Other police departments are now using it across America,” Ulrich said of CompStat. “Hopefully his life, his legacy, which we honor today, will inspire others.”