Interview with Nick Rankin
IntervieweeInterview with
Nick Rankin
InterviewerInterviewed by
Peter Moran
Date2022 May 26
Mediumborn digital audio file
DimensionsDuration: 1 Hour, 38 Minutes, 36 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineCommunity History Project Collection
Object number2022.20.9a-b
Description(a) Interview with Nick Rankin. Interviewed by Peter Moran on May 26, 2022 at Otis Library, 261 Main Street, Norwich. (b) Photograph of Nick Rankin taken at his interview. He was interviewed as part of the Connecticut Historical Society's Community History Project discussing his experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Nick Rankin is a police sergeant in Norwich, Connecticut. He first heard about Covid-19 through his work as a police officer. Mr. Rankin oversaw the community policing unit, and the first major disruption he faced was when his department was informed that they were was no longer allowed to interact with the public face-to-face. Mr. Rankin considered personal interaction to be a vital part of his job in both finding out the issues the community was concerned with as well as building positive community rapport. He recalled the community outpouring of adoration for “essential heroes” and expressed how he felt that much of it felt phony.
A “weird and major disruption” that emerged shortly after the pandemic was the question over mask mandates and whether it was the police’s job to simply educate the public or to actually enforce mandates, and if it was the latter, what that entails and whether it is a worthy use of force.
Rankin spent the bulk of the interview recounting the protests from the Spring of 2020, describing how the police “went from being essential heroes to society’s villains overnight.”
Nick Rankin is a police sergeant in Norwich, Connecticut. He first heard about Covid-19 through his work as a police officer. Mr. Rankin oversaw the community policing unit, and the first major disruption he faced was when his department was informed that they were was no longer allowed to interact with the public face-to-face. Mr. Rankin considered personal interaction to be a vital part of his job in both finding out the issues the community was concerned with as well as building positive community rapport. He recalled the community outpouring of adoration for “essential heroes” and expressed how he felt that much of it felt phony.
A “weird and major disruption” that emerged shortly after the pandemic was the question over mask mandates and whether it was the police’s job to simply educate the public or to actually enforce mandates, and if it was the latter, what that entails and whether it is a worthy use of force.
Rankin spent the bulk of the interview recounting the protests from the Spring of 2020, describing how the police “went from being essential heroes to society’s villains overnight.”
Label TextListen to interview at http://hdl.handle.net/11134/40002:19646598
NotesSubject Note: The Connecticut Historical Society’s Community History Project (CHP) is a public-facing initiative, focused on contemporary collecting, gathering items of the recent past as well as from events happening today. This program developed community historians to identify, document, and preserve their experiences as residents of Connecticut, and to share these experiences during a series of community presentations. The project focused on the impact of Covid-19 on Connecticans, particularly on Black and Brown communities, funeral homes, and on nursing home and elder care populations.Cataloging Note: This cataloging project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-249472-OMS-21.
Status
Not on view
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