My name is Bill Burns and I am a Retired NYPD Detective who spent 20+ years on some of the most crime-ridden streets of New York City doing what I do best…..keeping people safe.  I went into the NYPD Police Academy as a New York City Housing Authority Police Officer on July 28, 1983 and hit the streets of the South Bronx in January of 1984.

For the next two years, I alternated between the South Bronx and the Lower East Side during what was called “Operation Pressure Point”, an attempt by the City of New York to close down the blatant and out of control drug trade in lower Manhattan.  For a short time, it actually worked.

On February 26, 1988 at 3:30 am, P.O. Edward "Eddie" R. Byrne of the 103rd Precinct in South Jamaica, Queens was murdered by drug dealers while sitting in his patrol car guarding the house of a witness in an ongoing drug case.  This incident set in motion a national outcry for every police department in the country to finally do something about the illegal drug trade.  Like anything else, it didn’t last long, however, it did result in my temporary transfer from the Housing Police Department to work as an undercover narcotics officer with the NYPD Narcotics Division where I was assigned to Manhattan North Narcotics in Upper Manhattan from August of 1986 to June of 1990.  October 18, 1988 was probably the worst day I had on the job.  That was the day my friend and fellow undercover P.O. Chris Hoban was murdered in an apartment on West 105th Street during an undercover drug buy gone bad.  Chris was 26 years old when he died. That same night another fellow officer, Michael Buczek from the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights was murdered by drug dealers. 

In June of 1990, I was promoted to Detective and re-assigned back to the Housing Police Department and for the next five years, made the rounds through all five boroughs of New York City.

In 1995, then Mayor Rudy Giuliani merged the Transit and Housing Police Departments with the NYPD and I spent the remainder of my career as a Detective in several assignments in Manhattan North. 

During the course of my career, I have handled all types of investigations ranging from Lost Property to Missing and Abused Children to Sex Crimes and Homicides, not to metioned that I worked with some of the greatest Police Officers and Detectives in the world.

On October 31, 2003, Halloween Day, I officially retired from the NYPD and started my own business, William H. Burns & Associates, Inc. so I could continue doing what I do best…..KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE!