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