Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William H. West (policeman)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was merge to Arrest of Ulysses S. Grant. Aoidh (talk) 04:34, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

William H. West (policeman)

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WP:BIO1E. This policeman is covered in sources only in the context of having made the arrest of Ulysses S. Grant, and he is appropriately covered there. What little biographical content in the article does not relate to that arrest is neither sourced nor in any way remarkable.  Sandstein  07:42, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Police and United States of America.   Sandstein   07:42, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Disagree with deletion suggestion Useful context about an incident which is minor in the grand scheme of thingsbut an important event at the time.Kalamikid (talk) 10:31, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * This does not address the WP:BIO1E issue. And which "useful context" is present in this article that is not already (or should be) present in the article about the arrest?  Sandstein   10:44, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Merge to the article on Grant, for what content there is here, a merge seems fine. Oaktree b (talk) 13:09, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * To Ulysses S. Grant or to Arrest of Ulysses S. Grant? --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she&#124;they&#124;xe) 13:31, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * It's not true to say that all coverage is in the context of Grant. West was a minor celebrity throughout his career both for being a Black police officer and for being the guy who arrested Ulysses S. Grant, and he appears in D.C. papers on and off over the decades. Ghosts of D.C., while probably not an RS in itself, has a decent overview of some other life events, although it misses one of the big ones: riding alongside William McKinley and Grover Cleveland at the former's inauguration. So while the current content doesn't say much beyond what the arrest article says, I do think there's an article to be written here. No strong opinion on whether to merge in the meantime. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she&#124;they&#124;xe) 13:31, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.  𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘈𝘺𝘩𝘢𝘯07   16:22, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Merge to arrest of Ulysses S. Grant per nom. Natg 19 (talk) 17:11, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Redirect to Arrest of Ulysses S. Grant per nom. Even the coverage Tamzin links in Ghosts of DC would not be sufficient for notability imo-- it's fundamentally local coverage of a police officer. I don't see sigcov indicative of notability here. Even the ride along with McKinley only mentions West in passing. It's somewhat of an exaggeration to say that this coverage establishes West as a "minor celebrity throughout his career". It's telling that we cannot find a reliable secondary source that discusses West independent of his arrest. Eddie891 Talk Work 13:31, 6 April 2023 (UTC) (changed to redirect: I don't see anything worth merging. also, an addendum: I do hope coverage emerges of West, seems like an interesting guy- and perhaps this renewed attention will lead to some research in the present day, I just don't see it here. Eddie891 Talk Work 13:33, 6 April 2023 (UTC))
 * Delete person is not notable outside of their connection to a single, historical event. even the "event" is mere man bites dog historical curiosity rather than a significant moment in time. Not opposed to redirecting if others feel it is a useful search term. ValarianB (talk) 17:38, 6 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Merge per others. I thought Bio1e wasn't valid rationale for deletion iirc.Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  21:57, 6 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Redirect and merge: for now. If there is future research by historians into West specifically he can be split back out later, but for now there doesn't appear to be enough coverage to meet BIO1E. I do want to note that an American civil war veteran who may have served as one of the earliest black police officers in the nation's capitol who arrested a president may be someone who can meet notability guidelines. But the sourcing just isn't here right now. TulsaPoliticsFan (talk) 18:32, 7 April 2023 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.