Siblings, father and stepmother in far rockaway. Randolphs charismatic nature ensured that persons felt free to approach him. Judgmental. He was a gentleman who walked with a quiet purpose and a sense of job fulfillment. It was always husband ambition detective. A part of this dream came to fruition in 2010 when he graduated from the police academy. He said with integrity, honesty and courage until his ultimate death on tuesday october 20th, 2015. Randolph had mapped out his life. He became engaged to mary one year ago. Both of them were in the home in the suburbs of queens. They had plans to achieve the American Dream as a family. He lived a selfless life in his brooklyn neighborhood and would often shovel snow from his neighbors driveway and pavement during the winter season. We are proud to call him son, siblings, nephew, cousin, love of my life or even squatty. Our lives have been enriched by his beautiful memories. Even as we mourn his death, we rejoice because we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord. May his soul rest in peace. Randolph leaves to mourn his father randolph holder senior, his brothers prince, and ceon, his sister sherry, his nephew neimiah, his nieces, his grandmother elizabeth, his aunts desiree, brenda and me ruth patsy mary martha marie, macia and madonna. His uncles malcolm and michael, fiancee maryiane cousins and many more Family Members and friends. Thank you. [ applause ] as we reflect today and as we mourn and celebrate the life and legacy of officer holder, let us not just do that for short term, but let us keep him in our hearts and let us stand for the things that he stood for. He was a good man, a good cop, a good person. He wanted to serve, and he served with dignity and honor. And that is something that we all can aspire to do. I want to call at this point the honorable mayor bill de blasio to come to the podium. Put your hands together. Thank you reverend mullens support that you have provided the holder family. All of new york city is in pain at this moment. We all mourn the loss of officer randolph holder and no one is feeling it more than his beloved family, and our hearts and our prayers are with this good family, his father, randolph holder senior with his stepmother princess holder, his sister sherry, his brothers kalon and prince ceon, his fiancee mary, and marys daughter for whom randolph was like a father. Our hearts are with all this neighbors and also with his second family, his extended family, the nypd and particularly with all the men and women of psa5 who miss him so much. I want to thank everyone who is here, all the community leaders, elected officials and labor leaders, everyone here in unity, in solidarity with this family and with the nypd. We know our city lost a remarkable man, a man who made us better by his presence, youve heard already some of the things he achieved, and were only getting a small sense of the warmth, the humanity, the kindness, the smile he wore so often on his face, the witty turn of a tip of his tongue, and the laughter, the booming contagious laughter. This was a man who lived life so fully many. He was not about himself, officer randolph holder was dedicated to others, to his family and to all the people of this city. He was dedicated to making a difference in their lives. He believed he could accomplish a dream, takes a strong man to dream and an Even Stronger one to accomplish it. He achieved his own vision for himself and at the same time achieved todays version of the American Dream. 12 years ago coming here from guyana joining his father in far rockaway and determined, determined not just to carry out his fathers name but to achieve the noble profession that his father pursued. He was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, his grandfather, his great uncle before him and to wear a he cared. He cared for others. He believed in living up to the expectations of his family. He cared about his heritage. This is a truly rooted man, things guided him. He followed to the fullest. His family and his homeland of guyana were never far from his heart, always in his mind, always a part of everything he york city his home, and he listened carefully and learned powerful lessons and it was common to hear him say sentences that began with the words my grandmother taught me. They were very close. He always invoked her and spoke of her, and he called her regularly because he was a good man, a good son, a good grandson. He kept a close bond with his younger brother and vowed one day hed bring him to the United States from guyana and help him on his way. The kind of man who followed through on his commitments, and whether he was on duty or off duty, officer holder dedicated himself to others. But to bring joy, warmth, kindness, things we always need more of. He had a ready with others. As a member of new yorks finest, he served with such dedication, with humility, with grace, and he served as a Peace Air Force in the truest sense of the word. He built peace. He spread peace, encouraged peace in all he did. He loved to be in the community. He loved to connect with the people around him. He took every opportunity to get to know the people he was serving, to build Real Relationships with them. And he especially wanted to get young people to understand the right way. He believed he could reach he believed he could be a positive influence. He believed he could be an example. He did not shy away from being a role model. He embraced it. This was a disciplined young man. This was focused young man, and he knew as he engaged those young people, he was opening their eyes to what they could become. He was showing them their possibilities because he lived it. He was a living example, and he believed he could draw them closer and he could create a bond between our young people and our police for the good of all. He aimed to show them by his work, by his deeds, by his words, by everything about him and not only were the police on aspire to join the finest police force in the world. He opened the doors for them, and he wanted them to their own family traditions, just as he had followed a great tradition, join the nypd, make the world better. By his examples, by example, excuse me, by his teachings, his words and his actions, he showed young people what discipline and focus and hard work could achieve, and he showed them that if you believe in something it becomes possible because he believed in something, and he made it possible. Officer holder loved the people they felt comfortable with him. They trusted him, and he showed us how we can work towards a safer world for all, safer streets through stocker bonds between our police and our stronger bonds between our police and our community. A man of integrity and goodness becomes an example and a beacon, so everyday people could see there was Something Special about officer holder, but i assure you his Commanding Officer saw it as well, and they saw it quickly. Very early on in his Police Career to recognize his hard work they recognized his intelligence. They recognized his professionalism, and he started to advance quickly. His colleagues saw a model officer, active, energetic, effective, and all you have to do is look at that record of many, many commendations to see how much he achieved in just five short years on the nypd. He also showed such grace and generosity to all he served with. People liked to work with officer holder. They liked to be around him. They sought out his counsel because he was wise beyond his years. Some of you may know him by the name doc because he had the answers. People looked to him for wisdom, whether it was a personal matter or a financial matter or professional matter, and he would go out of his way for his fellow officers literally. When one of his fellow psa5 officers wasnt able to get to work too easily because he didnt have a car, officer holder drove out of his way to pick him up about 40 minutes some days extra added to his commute. He did this every day for four years and never complained. In fact, he used to sing along the way and if any of you know about his deejay skills, somehow he knew every song that came on the radio, no matter what the style, no matter what the era, he knew the lyrics. His love of music was deep, and he shared it with all around him, so a moment to reflect, to find some solace in all that randolph holder gave to this world. Time to think about what we can comport ourselves, learn as he did because thats how we will honor his legacy. We can learn from him that we are all in this together. We can learn from him that the police and the Community Must become one because at the root of it all, we are one. Police represent all of us and protect all of us, and it is our job to protect them as well. We as new yorkers in the year 2015, we are living in one of the largest and most complicated and most diverse cities in the history of all of humanity, and were far, far away from our ancestral roots. Once upon a time all of us, every single one of us came and in that village, there were guardians. The guardians were of and by and for the village, and everyone understood it, and once again, we must find a way to understand that even in our complicated world there are guardians who protect our village. The police are our guardians, and they are of and by and for us. Randolph holder never stopped thinking about his roots, his heritage, his family, and he knew that he came from a family of guardians, and he showed us how to stay true to that tradition. Even in the modern world that a there are guardians chosen from among us to protect us all, and we owe it to him to follow through. We know he didnt die in vain because of all lives he touched, all the good he did, all those who loved him, and all those who carry on his memory. But we have changes to make so we dont lose more god men and women good men and women like officer holder. In our nation, changes must be made to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. [ applause ] and here we must make sure that those whose only simply not allowed to walk our streets. [ applause ] the work remains to be done. Ill conclude with this point, the work remains to be done and some might say almost instantly that these changes are beyond our reach, they wont happen in our time no matter what we do. But that wouldnt be the way officer holder would have thought about things. We know from his example he was not one to dwell on what couldnt be done. He was not one to accept someone elses definition of what was possible. His very life was an example of aiming higher, beating the in his name we will not give up, wont give up until our society is more just and our people are safer. Thank you, and may god bless you all. [ applause ] now call commissioner william j. Bratton, Police Commissioner of nypd. [ applause ] good afternoon. On behalf of the executive Leadership Team of the new york extend to all of you who are here in this Beautiful Church and to the thousands upon thousands who are standing in the rain and the wind outside our thank you for joining with us in our hour of grief. Thank you certainly to the Many Political leaders who are here, to the many church leaders, Many Community leaders who stand with us day in and day out, the special guests from all around the world, Police Leaders from australia and new zealand, the commissioner of australia, the commissioner of new zealand, kosovo, abu dhabi, who are here to sell brace with us the life of Police Officer randolph what makes a Police Officer, is it courage . Is it compassion . I would say to you, its all of these. All these things make a cop, but one thing most of all, we keep people safe. Its what we do. Its what Police Officer randolph holder did so proudly throughout his all too brief career. Keeping people safe is what brought randy to the job. Its what brought him and his partner Police Officer omar wallace to a highway foot bridge in pursuit of a dangerous man armed with a gun. They went there willingly knowing the dangers, making a choice that keeping people safe was more important. Its what we do, and its what they did. Why do we do it . Why do they do it . In this country, service is not a requirement. As a nation, we do not compel it. You can go through your life without doing anything for anyone other than yourself. Some people do. Not many thankfully, but some. Many more live ordinary lives and offer help to others when they can, but they dont serve. Randy served. Cops serve. Its what we do. And for those who serve, for those who choose to place the lives of others above their own, the rewards are many. One of randys friends said he loved the job. It was what he wanted to do, being a cop. His dad was a cop. His grandfather was a cop. It was his family business. His reward was a life that im told that at psa5 as the mayor referenced they call him the doc or the doctor. They say he could memorize the faces in the neighborhood, routes they took, names and addresses. This was a useful talent for a housing cop, for any cop, patrol, housing. The job is the same but the nuances differ. And any housing cop about the elevators, vertical patrol, about the stairwells, about pebble beach, ask about the thousands of good people in Public Housing who struggle with the handful of bad ones, the ones we must do a much better job of excluding from housing. Ask about the responsibility, keeping the many safe from the few. Its what we do. In five years at psa5 randy had built a mental database, the kids teetering on the edge between them. Like all cops, he was the balance between them who lived as a guardian watching over the good and died as a warrior fighting against the bad. Being able to be both is part of what we do. His friends said randy had the calm, smooth demeanor of a 15 year vet, no complaints against him, no disciplinary charges. He had courage. He had compassion and this job was certainly his calling. Theres been a lot of talk lately about whether Public Safety is slipping, about whether crime is moving up or down, about whether the anti cop sentiment has made our work more dangerous, about whether cops are pulling back. The fact of the matter is policing is always dangerous and always potentially dangerous. Shootings, robberies and murders in this city are near historic lows but pockets of crime do remain in our city because there are evil people in this world. Most people avoid the evil ones at all costs if they can. As cops we seek them out. Randy and his partner omar knew what they were approaching that night, a shootout, a robbery, a man with a gun. They went towards that danger. They didnt pull back. Why . Its what we do. Randys father and his grandfather before him were cops in their native guyana, and when randys dad randolph came here, he served in precinct for a time. As one felt the pride of service, the satisfaction of helping others, and the meaning of keeping people safe, the calling. Its hard to stop in guyana or harlem its what we do. In guyana, randys father wore shield number 9657. He wore it with such pride that it pushed randy to follow his dads example. When randy was sworn in we issued him Police Officer shield 13340. He did it proud. Just as he did his family proud and his department proud and our city proud. And for that today i promote Police Officer randolph holder shield number 13340 to detective first grade and issue [ applause ] the 9,000 series began a little less than a year ago with detectives ramos and lui. It was again for detective moore. I said then i hope we never see another but as cops know thats an idle hope, why . Because of what we do. Id also like to acknowledge randys partner, Police Officer [ applause ] on that terrible night he defended us, and he defended his partner. Engaged in a gun battle with the suspect wounding him. Omar kept his head and followed his training. Radioed in critical information that led directly to the suspects capture. Imagine the moment your partner has just been shot. Youre shooting back. At the same time youre radioing for assistance. Youre making the call that no cop ever wants to hear, officer down. The choice, pursue or go back omar did it all that night. He is a hero. [ applause ] id think that randy knew omars decision and was comforted by it. But when youre willing to risk everything, sometimes it will cost you everything. Its what we do and now mourning is what we do as well. Randys family at home will miss him. His family in blue will miss him. He loved his family and friends spanning two countries, randolph, princess, his brothers and sisters, he loves you. I hope you can take some comfort in that, but no words of comfort offered by any of us today will pierce the veil of sorrow you all wear. But nonetheless, we will try with our words. We have chosen a life of service. Its what we do. Sometimes it can be hard for people who dont choose a life of service to understand us. At some point every cop has gotten the question, why do you do it . What do you want to be a cop. It certainly isnt for the long hours, the last minute assignments, the missed holidays, the dangers. It isnt for the stress or the anxiety our loved ones feel every time we leave the home. It isnt for glory or recognition, which all too often comes only on days like this. The city, indeed this country, doesnt know its cops oftentimes until its too late. Are 35,000 randy holders. There are 35,000 brian moores, 35,000 rafael ramos, 35,000 joe lewis, 35,000 michael williams, and 35,000 dennis guerras, black, white, hispanic, asian, immigrant. No one casually chooses a job that can end up here. We choose it because keeping people safe is worth it, preventing crime and disorder is worth it. Being part of something that improves millions of lives every day is worth it, and so we swear an oath and make a promise. Randy kept his promise to his family, to his department, and to himself. Cops like randy know this job has risks. We accept it, but the risk we accept is that bad people do bad things, not that the public will abandon us when bad things happen to bad people. The sense that this can happen has always been there for cops. It seems more pronounced now and its implied when people and why do you do it. In fact, sometimes we ask it of ourselves. Every new recruit must answer the same question as they come into our academy. Why did you become a Police Officer. They type out their responses and submit them to their academy instructors. Every recruit, including randy holder. This was what randy holder told us in his letter july 10th, 2010. My name is randolph holder. On march 19th, 1982 in georgetown guyana, growing up all i wanted to do was to make a difference in my community, to become a role model. To the United States of america to live with father. When i read this letter, and i saw that term to live with father, i was struck with father. Not my father, not my dad, not my pop, but father. The respect sir, that he must have had for you, the term father denotes that i was just extraordinarily touched by that term in this letter, the love that he must have had for you. [ applause ] my first real job was working as a security officer. Most of the managers were retired nypd officers, and they always talked a lot about how they changed their communities. Thats when i decided i could be a role model and make a difference in my community and in new york. In december 2010, i will graduate from the nypd academy to become a Police Officer in the greatest Police Department in the world. Randolph holder probationary Police Officer. Model. Youve made a difference [ applause ] you touched the lives certainly of your family, of your colleagues, the thousands upon thousands of them who are here today, your community, your city, and now your country. And from your loss, we can take this. We can change the fact that the city came to know you too late because even though service is not compelled in this country, Public Safety is a shared responsibility. We all have to come together to help the good people and to get the evil people off the streets, to steer the kids on the precipice to the right side and not the wrong side. All of us the shared responsibility to keep each other safe. It cant be just what cops do. It has to be what all of us do, and that will be a fitting legacy for detective first grade randy holder, shield number 9657 who served us all. If we want to remember him and to honor him coming together to finish his work is the way. Its what we all can do. Its what we all community of police need to do. Its our shared responsibility. So detective randolph holder you are relieved of your duty as a new york city Police Officer, guardian at the gates of new york city and we send you on your way to your new angel at the gates of heaven. [ applause ] thank you commissioner. Now detective randolph holder had a very Rich Heritage from his native land of guyana. Legacy would be that he had brought the actually limelight to his country. If you move around the city, youll see the flag of guyana flying all around the place, and it wasnt like that before so part of his legacy would be the attention that he brought to his native country, a rich country of a Rich Heritage [ applause ] with that said im now going to call Leroy Charles theyll be doing a presentation. ] the holder family, nypd officers, the various organizations present, all mourners in attendance, my name is leroy childs, the president of the Guyana Police our association consists of members of former Police Officers who served in the Guyana Police force before migrating to the United States. Rudolph senior and grandfather served many years in the Guyana Police force. Today the guyana expolice association of america is here to mourn the loss of a brother, the loss of an nypd officer, and the loss of a member of the guyanese community. The guy maya expolice association of america, an age Old Organization is flying its flag at halfmast mourning this untimely passing of yet another nypd officer. We hurt. We grieve and we mourn. Today we stand with new yorks finest and new york city. At this somber hour as our flag continues to fly at halfmast to every Family Member in attendance whose loved ones did not come home at the end of their shift, we are we are sorry for your loss that you have endured. Let me also say how grateful we are for the sacrifice your loved one has made. According to the scripture, john chapter 15 versus 13 greater love as no one than this to lay down ones life for ones friend today these words are very appropriate because thats what randolph holder junior has done, paid the ultimate price in deepest gratitude, let us be secure in the knowledge that our randolph holder junior now rests in peace and in a place of honor. May god bless him, bless him and the men and women who have given their life in service of our city, new york. Thank you all. May god bless you. [ brooklyn will come to pray the dedication to family, and for the city. Could you please stand. It would be good if we could just hold hands with our neighbors. Our father we continue humbly this early afternoon and this this century, this place that is given over to the worship and praise of your awesome and wonderful name. Lord as we come today, we dedicate ourselves to peace to live together in this great city in racial harmony. We dedicate ourselves today, lord to finding solution to the social ills of this city. We pray lord, for our leaders, we pray god for all the Community Minded persons who are in this house tonight and those who are on the outside doing good deeds, even as were here celebrating the life of officer randolph holder who has touched all of us in this room. We dedicate ourselves to you. We thank you, lord, for this brother who has dedicated his life to service, the service of his family, service of his community, service of protecting all of us lord, and we pray today father as we have heard earlier that he has gone on father, to that eternal place to be in the bosom of our lord resting forever. We pray lord for the family today who are mourning his loss. Offers you refuge and strength, present help in the time of trouble and lord we offer to them this help that comes today from this great and mighty and awesome and powerful god. Father, we pray today lord, that you would be with them and journey with them as they grieve together father. Lean in today in your everlasting arms because we know that you are a never failing god. We pray lord for them today lord as when the service ends that theyll be taking a plane tomorrow lord to travel to their Native Island of guyana, lord, and another grieving process, father. We pray that you would journey with them and favor them with your strength. We come today, lord to this awesome and loving god as a song reminds us i lift my eyes all of his help comes from the lord. Lord we know today that all the help that we need to help father god to work with each other, to help to walk together, to help father god to embrace each other today, these help everything we need comes from this great and mighty and awesome god. So lord as we conclude, we dedicate ourselves to service. We dedicate ourselves to working collect i havely to find solutions to the answers to everything thats going on around us. Father, we come to you today and we just ask you for your help in gods name we pray amen. [ applause ] [ music ] well have some brief remarks from our Public Officials who are here and ask if you want to do that you should make it very brief. I will start with counselman Donald Richards who is part of the 31st district where officer detective holder grew up, so im just going to ask him to come and give some brief remarks representing the community after which if theyre elected officials here who want to share brief remarks, theyre free to do so. Thank you, reverend mullins, first giving honor to god, and i want to thank the family and give our condolences to you. We are here to stand with you and its a very emotional moment, today istand here on rockaway in Southeast Queens to offer you our sincerest condolences on the loss of your son and a true son of queens now detective randolph holder. Today the community wanted me to let you know that you do not mourn alone and that we too feel the loss of a son, brother, and nephew. You see, behind that chill we recognize that there was a bright, handsome, giving, loving, disciplined, genuine, cool, collected calm, loving deejay [ applause ] young man, ask yes, his life mattered. This is why this busy metropolis we call new york city pauses today to say thank you to one of our fallen heroes. [ applause ] thats why this city is here to stand with the holder family in the greatest time of need in the days after. I have to admit as i sat at my desk writing these words, it was rather difficult to come up with what to say today because when a good young man loses his life, what words are there left to say, but then as the sunshine starts peeking into my window and was replaced by gloom and clouds i was suddenly king left us for moments like this. He said darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that, and today we all must take a look at ourselves in the mirror and ask are we doing everything in our power to drive out hate or have we forgotten what it means to love one another . If so then officer holders death would have been in vain, and his mothers and fathers tearings a mere passing rain shower. This is why today this city must reaffirm its vows to start loving one another again and unify for a greater purpose or am i just dreaming. Dream of a city where black lives and blue lives could stand in unison. Is it too far fetched for us to dream of the day when communities and the nypd can come together to fight a common enemy, the common enemy of gun violence, hate, division, poverty and injustice or should we just defer that dream to a later date. Today should be a wakeup call once again that we cannot afford to let another day pass by without recommitting ourselves to turning these dreams into a reality because at the end of the day, we want our officers to make it home safe, and we want safe communities. [ applause ] neither one i cant help but to think as i prepare to welcome my first born son into this world in a few weeks that a great man is exiting that gave his life for his safety, but one day i hope to tell donovan the third that after october 28th, new york city was never the same again. [ applause ] i hope that the world he enters will afford him the opportunity to become the friend and be served by officers like detective randolph holder officer holder exited the best in the nypd and he went beyond the call of duty by treating everyone he encountered with courtesy, professionalism, and respect. In closing, i will leave you with a proverb i once heard. Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names. [ applause ]. May randolph holders name live on for eternity, thank you and may god bless detective randolph holder, may god bless his family, may god bless the nypd, may god bless this city and may thank you all. I want the guyana ambus ambassadors to give these brief remarks. Good afternoon. Im the ambassador of guyana where detective holder hails from and where hes going back to. Mayor de blasio, commissioner, members of the family, mr. Consul general, as we assemble to mourn the tragic passing of randolph holder at the hands of a criminal armed with a handgun, let us recall that to his dying breath his life was given in service to his community. He was service and protecting his community as his family has done for generations. He was prepared to bear the risks of satisfying his which was simply to be a model policeman. The grief and loss which is felt by his loved ones can never be minimized. No matter how much we sympathize, we can never erase their sorrow. But we are here today to stand in solidarity with them, in celebration of his life. We are here to say to his parents, his siblings, his fianci and other relatives, his friends and his colleagues, that we salute his passion for law and order. Were having some difficulties with the video coverage of the funeral for officer randolph holder. We apologize for that. We do want you to know because of the funeral coverage, General Hospital will air in its entirety at 1 a. M. You may want to set your dvr for that. Were taking a look at the live picture. This is outside the area and you can see all of the flowers, all of the candles that have been set up there. Its really quite beautiful and peaceful to look at that now. Its been quite an emotional funeral. Thousands of people have been attending this service today. Officer holder being hailed as a man of integrity. We heard from Police Commissioner bill bratton who posthumously promoted holder to detective today. Hes now official detective randolph holder and that is good on a number of reasons because it also helps money that will go toward his family and just is an honor that the Police Department often bestows upon officers in the line of duty and its a good honor that they do that for their officers. And actually were looking this memorial, this tribute is taking place for officer holder. Were trying to effort to get it back. Here we are. Lets listen in. Thank you. A portion of the choir will be singing, ministering to you. And right after that we will have the message, eulogy from herman seely. They will minister to you and the next voice you will
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