The Gray Riders

(Rochester, NY) - The Gray Riders is a one-hour documentary airing Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV that looks at the remarkable 100-year history of the New York State Police. The film features photographs and rare footage from the vast New York State Police archives along with dozens of interviews and comments from the men and women whose extraordinary service and dedication have made the State Police what it is today – one of the finest and most respected law enforcement agencies in the world.

In the Spring of 1913, Samuel Howell, the foreman of a construction firm, was attacked and robbed of the company’s payroll by four men on a rural road near the town of Bedford in Westchester County. He was shot seven times. Howell identified his attackers before he died, but the local police, fearful for their own safety, refused to pursue Howell’s assailants. They were never caught.

Outraged over Howell’s murder, Moyca Newell, who’s home Howell was building, along with Katherine Mayo, lead the effort to establish a police force that could protect the rural communities of New York State.

The Department of the New York State Police was called to duty on April 11th, 1917. That fall the first 232 troopers rode out of the New York State Fair Grounds on horseback to begin patrolling New York's rural areas. Then as today, troopers have been there to fulfill the law enforcement needs of the people of New York State with the highest degree of fairness, professionalism, and integrity.

2017 marks 100 years of service for The New York State Troopers.

Credit: WSKG