From Brownsville to Detective First Grade: Harold Thomas on Racism, Survival & the NYPD

Send us Fan MailWhat happens when a young Black man from Brownsville, Brooklyn, who was arrested at 16, grows up to become one of the NYPD’s most accomplished detectives?In this powerful episode of Corey’s Corner, retired NYPD Detective First Grade Harold Thomas shares his extraordinary journey from the streets of Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and East New York to serving nearly 30 years in the New York City Police Department.Thomas opens up about growing up without a father, surviving the streets, experiencing racism inside and outside the department, and fighting to earn a place in the NYPD after an investigator tried to block his career before it even began.He discusses his rapid rise through the ranks, service in elite investigative units and federal task forces, and the life-changing 2011 shooting that left him hospitalized for two months and in rehabilitation for three years.This is a raw and unfiltered conversation about race, policing, survival, accountability, and what has—and hasn’t—changed in America over the last four decades.Support the show