CLUBBER WILLIAMS AND THE TENDERLOIN
It has been noted many times that the police force of nineteenth-century New york consisted of many who could best be described as either goons or grifter�s, some of whom saw their chief activity as consisting of extorting protection money from local merchants.
Naturally, some precincts offered more �gravy� than others, and every crooked cop's ambition was to get assigned to a precinct with lots of lucrative crime. There was no more notable precinct for this than what was then the 29th Precinct � consisting of such areas as the fashionable red-light district on the West Side below 42nd St., where the flesh-peddlers were protected by cops who in turn were protected by powerful Tammany Hall.
In 1876, when Capt. Clubber Williams was transferred there, he famously announced: "I've had nothing but chuck steak for a long time, and now I'm going to get a little of the tenderloin." And "the Tenderloin" is what that part of town soon became known as.
One man who disapproved was Dr. Charles Henry Parkhurst, pastor of Madison Square Presbyterian Church.
In 1895, a newly appointed police commissioner named Theodore Roosevelt started cleaning up the corruption, and The Metropolitan Police Force was on its way to becoming New York's Finest.
(The N.Y. State Metropolitan Police ceased policing NYC in 1870 and were disbanded in 1871; the NYPD became the NYPD on April 5, 1870)
Captain �Clubber� Williams is certainly one of the more colorful characters in this department�s history.
Born Alexander Clubber Williams, he was a sailor before joining the NYPD, and he kept that love for the sea. After being promoted to captain, Williams, as an avid and active yachtsman, equipped one of the NYPD harbor launches luxuriously with all the lavish amenities possible at the time for entertaining the ladies and for his own personal use.
As the C.O. of the NYPD Sanitation Bureau (that�s right!), he led the heavily armed, machine gun loaded harbor launches as they escorted NYPD garbage barges in stealthy convoys in the dark of the night to illegally dump NYC garbage off of Bay Ridge. This led to many armed face to face confrontations between the NYPD Harbor launches and Brooklyn PD harbor launches.
In addition to commanding the Sanitation Bureau, Clubber Williams was also the first commanding officer of the NYPD Mounted Unit, which was established July 10, 1871 at 40th Street and Broadway.
Bestowing the nickname on him was no easy task; his legendary use of force is reported to have resulted in that he was either arrested or went to the trial room for assault and excessive use of force 397 times. (And he was promoted to Captain!)
After Williams was forced to retire by Theodore Roosevelt, he bought a boat yard in the old town of Astoria and became one of the largest owner- builders of luxury yachts on the east coast. He was also one of the wealthiest retired members of the department
CRIME FIGHTING STRATEGIES: NEW ORLEANS CAJUN STYLE
A recent visit to the Big Easy was not without a buff-out period with some of New Orleans� gumshoes.
A discussion regarding crime in their city soon focused on the level of violence, which remains rather high, and then to crime within a certain housing project. (In New Orleans they still have �projects�; they had no idea what a �development� was).
The Lincoln Projects, found nestled between the business district and the posh Garden District, was a project of considerable crime and havoc. Drug dealing was rampant, accompanied by the violence that goes hand in hand with the drug trade. Shots fired at police, by police, and a resident list that looked like the roster of Angola prison. Think Cypress Houses combined with the crime and population of the Pink Houses, and you have an idea.
How did they address crime in this project, driving the crime rate down to the lowest it ever saw? Perhaps you are thinking a long-term federal RICO case � wrong. A state organized crime enterprise take-down? Wrong again. Resident undercovers, perhaps? No. Not even technical gadgetry like CCTV or audio monitors were utilized.What they did was more novel than any approach you will ever see in New York.
They leveled the projects, knocking them down to the grounds, razed the property, and sold it to Wal-Mart, who built a �Super Wal-Mart� with a very, very large parking lot!What did you do with the people who were living here, you may ask? �Well, they had to move� was the reply I got.
Apparently many moved outside the city limits, much to the chagrin of the surrounding parishes (counties), but of apparent little concern to the city leadership.Probably had no problem knocking down their COMPSTAT numbers for the first year reporting.
SOME LEGAL DEFINITIONS
Corroborating evidence: Supplementary evidence that tends to strengthen or confirm the initial evidence.
You have one good witness who makes an identification. Corroborating evidence can mean the difference between the case being ready to arrest or not. Are there any supplemental or confirming evidence to help? Perhaps you have a witness who cannot make an ID of the perp, but who can provide details of the crime that serve to confirm those given by your eyewitness.
A good example of this can be a witness who hears a shot, sees a tall male in a red jacket running through the courtyard and get into a white car, and flee the scene. Combined with an eyewitness, who identifies a tall male in a red jacket as the shooter, who runs in the directionthat the second witness indicates, your corroboration should be strong enough to support an arrest and prosecution.
Corroborating evidence can mean the difference between a 1-witness case that won't be written up by the DA, and a case that is viable and prosecutable - and arrestable in the DA's eyes.
DON't discount witnesses who can corroborate the incident even if they cannot provide an identificatiion; they may prove to be very valuable when the entire case is reviewed.
INTERESTING WEB SITES
Pinkertons Global Intelligence Services � Provides weekly intelligence summaries and other related stories.
www.pinkertons.com/pgis
Public Intelligence Review - News and press releases from Public Intelligence Review and Newsletter.
www.ccnet.com/~suntzu75/pirn.htm
Gang Information database - Provides a searchable database of internet links to gang related information.
www.virtuallibrarian.com/gangs/
WHAT ABOUT THE PIZZA?
I recently reported that the famed Brooklyn pizzeria, DiFara�s, was opening a branch in lower Manhattan.The Manhattan location, on Houston Street & MacDougal (just off 6th Avenue) is being run by the daughter and son of the original�s owner.
It�s named Demarco�s, dropping the use of the Brooklyn�s name for some unspecified super-secret pizza reason. Anyway.
Finding my way into Manhattan one afternoon I chose to drop in and make a personal inspection, mostly so that I could �scoop� MISTER John Cantwell who, now that he�s retired, was sure to be checking out the goods in all his �spare� time. I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed � and I never even got to taste the product!
First of all, the NYC location is NOT a copy of the Brooklyn landmark; first of all, there�s no large pizza oven when you walk in the door. In fact, there�s no pizza oven visible at all! There�s a bar (you know, for drinking) and a room full of tables in what looks like a nice Italian restaurant setting � NOT the DiFara�s pizza setting by any means.
Walking in to what I was expecting to be a �pizza-place� really took me by surprise; when asked �how many� to be seated, I could only think to say �I was just looking for some pizza?� Sure � have a seat, as I was handed � a menu?
While the motto at the Brooklyn DiFara�s is more along the line of �If you want a clean table, go ahead � don�t let us stop you from wiping it down�, the Manhattan spot is along the �Italian bistro� setting � very un-detective like. (Well, let me correct that � very un-Brooklyn detective like perhaps).
I�m not saying the pizza isn�t good � I just don�t know yet!
After seating me in a corner table, around the corner from the bar, I was left to peruse the menu for � ten minutes perhaps? There was one other table of people, and those four had apparently already eaten. I didn�t smell any food, and after ten minutes it looked like I wasn�t going to see any, either.
Now, I�m a busy Minister of Investigation. I don�t have lazy afternoons to sit around and wait for a waitress to come and take my order for � 2 slices of pizza?? I couldn�t wait any longer, I had to leave.
I�m pretty sure they make pizza there, because I read it in TIME OUT NY magazine. I just can�t be absolutely certain yet, even upon a personal visit. The room looks nice, like it would make for an �enjoyable dining experience�; I just wanted a slice of pizza, and left hungry.
For all I know �Mr. GQ� John Cantwell has already �scooped� me, and tasted the product. As for me, I�ll have to try another day. I just don�t get the same feel of the atmosphere from DiFara�s in Brooklyn, where the owner puts the pies in, and takes them out of the oven, with his bare hands � who needs those silly wooden pallets anyway?
DeMarco�s may be related, but it�s more like a distant cousin � or one of those �fake uncles� you have in the family.
MORE ON THE NINTH AND CAL�S
A recent posting to this site on the �Fighting Ninth� Precinct, and the station house�s neighbor Cal�s, has prompted some e-mail to The Minister.
Det1 (Ret) John Reilly has some memories of that local joint. It was right next to the 9th Pct. stationhouse, and if you happened to find yourself in the bar very late at night, maybe at 1 am or 2 am Cal, the owner, was known to have announced "O.K,. I'm going home, last one out lock the door and leave the keys at the desk."
Sometime around 1968 Reilly recalls arresting a motor-cycle gang leader at 3rd Street and 2nd Avenue, in possession of a Tomahawk pipe with marijuana in the pipe bowl and a small homemade bomb in his coat pocket. A few weeks later he walked into Cal's and saw the same hoodlum sitting at a table. After giving him a toss, he was given the bum's rush out onto the street with a warning never to come back. Some time later the same punk was seen again in the NYS Supreme Court where he was being arraigned on a charge of murder, for killing and setting on fire a rival gang member.
Apparently not all the people who wanted to hang out in Cal's were "good guys."
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
February 1, 1935 Sgt George Nadler, ESU, Explosion-investigation
February 2, 1975 PO Frank Bugdin, Midtown North, Shot-investigation
February 4, 1933 Sgt Eugene Monahan, 34 Pct, Shot: Robbery pursuit
February 6, 1914 Ptl Edward Murtha, 147 Pct, Shot-Robbery investigation
February 6, 1944 Ptl Eugene Mahoney, 5 Det Sq, Auto accident on patrol
February 9, 1963 Det Richard Arundell, DetDiv, LOD Heart attack
February 10, 1926 Ptl Frank White, 35 Pct, Shot-Burglary in progress
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
A REPORTERS TAKE ON MURDER- AT A GOOD ADDRESS
Pete Hamill, noted New York journalist, writes in his latest book, DOWNTOWN, about what murder means to the newspaperman.
�From the nineteenth century on, most New Yorkers knew that there were only a few basic scripts for murder. Some desperate fool with a rented gun would try a stickup, panic, and shoot the owner of the delicatessen. Another fool would try a mugging on a dark street and get gunned down himself when the victim turned out to be an off-duty cop. A busted-out gambler would be drinking in an after-hours club when a tall gunman and a shorter partner walked in with guns blazing. The cops, and the tabloids, would then send out an alarm for a Mutt-and-Jeff bandit team. The felons were always caught�.
His take on the newspapers angle on murder hits the mark. So is his analysis of murder notoriety.
�The truth is that human passion drove most homicides. One night in the early 1960�s, a sad-eyed detective named Ray Martin told me: �The biggest killer in New York? It�s not drugs. It�s not robbery. It�s not greed. It�s jealousy.� That seemed true then and remains true now. While there was so many of these crimes of passion not all of them made the newspapers, unless they fit into a special category: Murder at a Good Address.
A murder driven by jealousy on Park Avenue (in Manhattan) was bigger news than a similar murder in Brooklyn.� I�m sure our colleagues in Manhattan South will attest to this!
Murder at a good address. Sure to make a headline. If I may add my own comment here, murder on the subway also makes a great headline. A lot of people use the subway every day; people who have no idea what it looks like outside the station of Nostrand Avenue on the �A� line take a train that goes passed the station; a person who rides a subway � no matter how frequently � is immediately drawn to a newspaper story about a murder on the subway. (Just another one of those things �you learn new every day�).
Hamill notes further how, during the hey-day of crime in New York City (before the police officers were so �productive� and murders were driven below the 600 mark!) editors looked for some special twist in a story. �Concrete nouns, active verbs, and details � good details.�
Lamenting about a particularly slow �news day�, Hamill recalls standing around the city desk with the city editor remarking �what we need here is a good murder.� To which the city editor quickly commented, �At a good address.�
FOR THE HOMICIDE DETECTIVE: 3 & 1 RULE
Generally speaking, body temperature will drop 3 degrees during the 1st hour after death, then 1 degree subsequent hours. This will continue until the body drops to room temperature. After approx 30 hours, the body temperature will begin to rise again.
That is why the MLI will take body temperature as well as the ambient temperature at the location.
Using this approximate - general - guide, and taking into consideration environmental factors (heat, cold, etc.) an ME will make an "estimate" concerning time of death.
It is important to remember that this is an estimate only.
At best, according to many experts, the estimate will be within 4 hours plus or minus. It's not as exact as they get on CSI, but will provide a general time frame.
It's always best to discuss time of death direct with the ME who performs the post mortem exam when such time of death is a critical factor. Don't leave it to the MPS Detective to pass on their version of the ME's determination; speaking to the doctor directly can help to clear up questions you may have.
ANNIE ALLEY
Pete Schrammel of the 75 Squad made a recent contribution on an item of particular interest. This is an item that I make sure to cover on training presentations I give, to all new MOS and newly assigned investigators.
Often referred to by MOS, but not always easily defined, is the term ANI-ALI, or, as it is referred to over the air, �Annie Alley�.This is actually a technical term from derived from the telephone company, that has to do with the 911 enhanced system that provides information on the calls made to the 911 system.And what is the ANI-ALI, you ask?
ANI : Automatic Number Identification (the callback #)
ALI : Automatic Location Identification (Address/Cross streets of caller)
Pete is right, that a lot of people may not know the origin of ANI/ALI.
I recall reading a DD5 submitted from a detective who indicated that he interviewed the 911 caller, a �Mr. Ani Ali�, at the location.
I guess you may be able to add this into the file that You Learn Something New Everyday?
MOUNTED COPS AND BICYCLE PATROLMAN
In the latter part of the 1800's when NYPD "Patrolmen" were being paid $600 annually, those patrolmen holding the rank of "Bicycle Patrolmen" received $100 more each year.
At the same time, those who were "Mounted Patrolmen" were paid a whopping $800 a year for a 100 plus hour work week, including reserve time in the station house.
When a "Mounted Patrolman" got transferred from one precinct to another precinct his horse and all its equipment went with that patrolman to his new command. Each horse and the saddle, etc. was assigned to a specific police officer, and when you were transferred, your horse and all its equipment went with you as specified on the orders.
You were responsible for the care and grooming of that horse and you attended to that horse's welfare on your own off-duty time when necessary. In most cases when a patrolman was transferred from one command to another, not only was the command specified, but the assigned patrol post was also specifically assigned on the orders. Roundsmen and Sergeants also had to care for their own mounted steed, but Captains were excused and their horses were assigned to a patrolman or hostler for care and feeding. Note that there was no rank of lieutenant on the job at the time.
Close formation mounted drill and riot control was held each Sunday morning for the entire department for all mounted patrolmen that had just worked the late tour.
Late tours in the 1800's were for six hours and ended at 0600 hours. The 3 hour mounted drill started at 0900 hours and was usually conducted in Central Park.
Furthermore, you were expected to drill and get there and back, all on your own off-duty time.
When the weather was inclement, the training was conducted in the West 66th Street Armory. (Now an WABC TV studio between CPW and Columbus Ave.) in today's 20 Precinct.
When the NYPD opened its new mounted training school with 45 horses and new stables on August 1, 1905, mounted training for the entire department was then moved to Richardson Ave. and East 241 Street in the 47 Precinct.
Also, the Brooklyn Police Department also had its own Mounted Squad, which was established on April 3, 1875 with its stables and headquarters on Bergen Street, just off Flatbush Avenue.
(Thanks to Mike Bosak for that contribution).
IN MEMORIAM: PTL. JAMES KILLION
On January 18, 1935 Ptl. James J. Killion #6906 of the 17th Pct was killed in the line of duty.
At about 7 pm, Jan. 18, 1935, while on patrol duty Ptl. Killion and Ptl. Walter B. Curtis interrupted a robbery at a leather goods store at 548 5th Ave. Manhattan.
Four bandits were holding up the store when the officers entered the store. Shots were exchanged and Ptl. Killion was hit and fell to the floor. His assailant ran from the store, and after a short chase was caught by a Mounted Patrolman Henry J. Ferger, Mtd Sqd No. 1.
Back at the store the gunfight between the remaining three bandits and Ptl. Walter Curtis continued. When Ptl. Curtis cornered the bandits in a rear room he threatened to blow their heads off; the three surrendered, not knowing that Curtis had fired his last round and was out of ammunition.
Curtis with the assistance of Ptl. Henry Quinn, Traffic D, disarmed and arrested the bandits.
Ptl. Killion was rushed to Polyclinic Hospital where he died the same day.
Ptl. Killion was appointed to the NYPD on Sept. 27, 1929. He was 30 years old, married with two children.
On May 27, 1936, a posthumous award of the NYPD Medal of Honor was presented to his widow, Mrs. Nellie Thompson Killion, at City Hall Plaza by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia.
Ptl. Walter Curtis was also awarded the NYPD Medal of Honor for his courage and actions on Jan. 18, 1935.
Ptl. Ferger was awarded Honorable Mention and Ptl. Quinn a Commendation. All of the holdup men who took part in the robbery of the store and the death of Ptl. Killion were arrested, convicted and put to death in the electric chair.
INTERESTING WEB SITE
FREE People Searches
http://www.reunitetonight.com/
The Best Legal Web Sites (so they say !!). Be sure to check out all the links.
http://www.nylawyer.com/law101/bestsites/
Investigators Guide to Sources of Information: There is some good information here. It is Downloadable, free to print and good to put into a binder for your desk.
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch4.htm
More Investigative Information Sites:
Local and State Governmentshttp://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch1.htm
Federal Agencies
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch2.htm
Directories, Reference Works http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch3.htmElectronic
Databaseshttp://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch4.htm
Investigators' Guide To the Internet
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch5.htmcondor
THE CIGAR AFICIONADO
What is the proper way to light a cigar?
If you use a match, wait until the sulphur burns off before using it to light your cigar. Wooden matches are recommended over regular matches.
If you use a lighter, use a butane one. The gasoline based ones impart a flavor to your smoke. Of course, Zippo will be irritated by this; they recommend you allow the flame to burn for a few seconds to allow the disturbing odor to dissipate.
Preheat the open end - the foot - by slowly rolling the cigar above the flame at an angle allowing a tiny black ring to form all the way around the wrapper. Try not to let the flame touch the cigar.
Then place the cigar in your mouth, and draw in as you repeat the process, slowly rolling the cigar at an angle above the flame, but never letting the lighter flame actually touch the cigar.
About a 1/2 inch or so away. Slowly spin the cigar to establish an even burn.
Once it appears to be fully lit pull it away from the flame, away from your mouth and actually look at the glowing foot to see if it's fully lit.
If the burn is uneven, repeat the previous step on the appropriate side to even the burn.
You can also try to blow on the end if there is a small bit of uneven burn, to help intensify the heat there, and then take a couple of steady draws. Then wait just a little while before continuing to puff; this short delay will allow the cigar a chance to stabilize and self correct the burn.
If the smoke happens to go out, knock off the ash, gently blowing through the cigar to clear out the old smoke, then begin to draw in while rolling the cigar through the lighting process.
And you thought lighting a cigar was easy?
�LEST WE FORGET�� NYPD Memorial
�It is not how they died that makes them a hero, but how they lived their lives�.
January 21, 1932 Ptl John Walsh, 17 Div, Shot-off duty robbery
January 21, 1941 Ptl Daniel Piselli, 88 Pct, Killed-line of duty incident
January 21, 1948 Ptl William Von Weisenstein, 101 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
January 21, 1958 Det Francis O�Rourke, 32 Sqd, Line of duty heart attack
January 21, 1986 Det Anthony Venditti, OCCB, Shot-investigation
January 21, 1995 Det Alfred Boesch, Housing SNEU, Line of duty incident
January 22, 1971 Ptl Robert Bolden, 75 Pct, Shot-off duty altercation
January 23, 1934 Ptl Joseph Misichia, 114 Pct, Shot-arrest
January 23, 1943 Ptl Pasquale Venturelli, 45 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
January 23, 1987 PO Michael Reidy, 41 Pct, Shot-off duty robbery
January 24, 1967 Ptl John Barry, PA, Line of duty heart attack
January 24, 1975 Ptl John Scala, ApplicInv, Shot-off duty robbery
January 25, 1994 PO Nicholas DeMatiis, 106 Pct, Auto pursuit
January 27, 1908 Ptl John Loughman, 15 Pct, Shot-off duty incident
January 27, 1938 Ptl Edward Roos, 8 Sqd, Auto accident on patrol
January 27, 1943 Ptl Angelo Dimuro, 1 Pct, Line of duty incident
January 27, 1972 Ptl Gregory Foster, 9 Pct, Shot-assassination
January 27, 1972 Ptl Rocco Laurie, 9 Pct, Shot-assassination
January 28, 1938 Sgt David Kilpatrick, 40 Pct, Shot-robbery in progress
January 28, 1980 PO Cecil Sledge, 69 Pct, Shot-car stop
January 30, 1930 Ptl Maurice O�Brien, 28 Pct, Shot-arrest
January 30, 1956 Ptl Benny Bruno, GCP Pct, Auto pursuit
Pete Hamill, noted New York journalist, writes in his latest book, DOWNTOWN, about what murder means to the newspaperman.
�From the nineteenth century on, most New Yorkers knew that there were only a few basic scripts for murder. Some desperate fool with a rented gun would try a stickup, panic, and shoot the owner of the delicatessen. Another fool would try a mugging on a dark street and get gunned down himself when the victim turned out to be an off-duty cop. A busted-out gambler would be drinking in an after-hours club when a tall gunman and a shorter partner walked in with guns blazing. The cops, and the tabloids, would then send out an alarm for a Mutt-and-Jeff bandit team. The felons were always caught�.
His take on the newspapers angle on murder hits the mark. So is his analysis of murder notoriety.
�The truth is that human passion drove most homicides. One night in the early 1960�s, a sad-eyed detective named Ray Martin told me: �The biggest killer in New York? It�s not drugs. It�s not robbery. It�s not greed. It�s jealousy.� That seemed true then and remains true now. While there was so many of these crimes of passion not all of them made the newspapers, unless they fit into a special category: Murder at a Good Address.
A murder driven by jealousy on Park Avenue (in Manhattan) was bigger news than a similar murder in Brooklyn.� I�m sure our colleagues in Manhattan South will attest to this!
Murder at a good address. Sure to make a headline. If I may add my own comment here, murder on the subway also makes a great headline. A lot of people use the subway every day; people who have no idea what it looks like outside the station of Nostrand Avenue on the �A� line take a train that goes passed the station; a person who rides a subway � no matter how frequently � is immediately drawn to a newspaper story about a murder on the subway. (Just another one of those things �you learn new every day�).
Hamill notes further how, during the hey-day of crime in New York City (before the police officers were so �productive� and murders were driven below the 600 mark!) editors looked for some special twist in a story. �Concrete nouns, active verbs, and details � good details.�
Lamenting about a particularly slow �news day�, Hamill recalls standing around the city desk with the city editor remarking �what we need here is a good murder.� To which the city editor quickly commented, �At a good address.�
FOR THE HOMICIDE DETECTIVE: 3 & 1 RULE
Generally speaking, body temperature will drop 3 degrees during the 1st hour after death, then 1 degree subsequent hours. This will continue until the body drops to room temperature. After approx 30 hours, the body temperature will begin to rise again.
That is why the MLI will take body temperature as well as the ambient temperature at the location.
Using this approximate - general - guide, and taking into consideration environmental factors (heat, cold, etc.) an ME will make an "estimate" concerning time of death.
It is important to remember that this is an estimate only.
At best, according to many experts, the estimate will be within 4 hours plus or minus. It's not as exact as they get on CSI, but will provide a general time frame.
It's always best to discuss time of death direct with the ME who performs the post mortem exam when such time of death is a critical factor. Don't leave it to the MPS Detective to pass on their version of the ME's determination; speaking to the doctor directly can help to clear up questions you may have.
ANNIE ALLEY
Pete Schrammel of the 75 Squad made a recent contribution on an item of particular interest. This is an item that I make sure to cover on training presentations I give, to all new MOS and newly assigned investigators.
Often referred to by MOS, but not always easily defined, is the term ANI-ALI, or, as it is referred to over the air, �Annie Alley�.This is actually a technical term from derived from the telephone company, that has to do with the 911 enhanced system that provides information on the calls made to the 911 system.And what is the ANI-ALI, you ask?
ANI : Automatic Number Identification (the callback #)
ALI : Automatic Location Identification (Address/Cross streets of caller)
Pete is right, that a lot of people may not know the origin of ANI/ALI.
I recall reading a DD5 submitted from a detective who indicated that he interviewed the 911 caller, a �Mr. Ani Ali�, at the location.
I guess you may be able to add this into the file that You Learn Something New Everyday?
MOUNTED COPS AND BICYCLE PATROLMAN
In the latter part of the 1800's when NYPD "Patrolmen" were being paid $600 annually, those patrolmen holding the rank of "Bicycle Patrolmen" received $100 more each year.
At the same time, those who were "Mounted Patrolmen" were paid a whopping $800 a year for a 100 plus hour work week, including reserve time in the station house.
When a "Mounted Patrolman" got transferred from one precinct to another precinct his horse and all its equipment went with that patrolman to his new command. Each horse and the saddle, etc. was assigned to a specific police officer, and when you were transferred, your horse and all its equipment went with you as specified on the orders.
You were responsible for the care and grooming of that horse and you attended to that horse's welfare on your own off-duty time when necessary. In most cases when a patrolman was transferred from one command to another, not only was the command specified, but the assigned patrol post was also specifically assigned on the orders. Roundsmen and Sergeants also had to care for their own mounted steed, but Captains were excused and their horses were assigned to a patrolman or hostler for care and feeding. Note that there was no rank of lieutenant on the job at the time.
Close formation mounted drill and riot control was held each Sunday morning for the entire department for all mounted patrolmen that had just worked the late tour.
Late tours in the 1800's were for six hours and ended at 0600 hours. The 3 hour mounted drill started at 0900 hours and was usually conducted in Central Park.
Furthermore, you were expected to drill and get there and back, all on your own off-duty time.
When the weather was inclement, the training was conducted in the West 66th Street Armory. (Now an WABC TV studio between CPW and Columbus Ave.) in today's 20 Precinct.
When the NYPD opened its new mounted training school with 45 horses and new stables on August 1, 1905, mounted training for the entire department was then moved to Richardson Ave. and East 241 Street in the 47 Precinct.
Also, the Brooklyn Police Department also had its own Mounted Squad, which was established on April 3, 1875 with its stables and headquarters on Bergen Street, just off Flatbush Avenue.
(Thanks to Mike Bosak for that contribution).
IN MEMORIAM: PTL. JAMES KILLION
On January 18, 1935 Ptl. James J. Killion #6906 of the 17th Pct was killed in the line of duty.
At about 7 pm, Jan. 18, 1935, while on patrol duty Ptl. Killion and Ptl. Walter B. Curtis interrupted a robbery at a leather goods store at 548 5th Ave. Manhattan.
Four bandits were holding up the store when the officers entered the store. Shots were exchanged and Ptl. Killion was hit and fell to the floor. His assailant ran from the store, and after a short chase was caught by a Mounted Patrolman Henry J. Ferger, Mtd Sqd No. 1.
Back at the store the gunfight between the remaining three bandits and Ptl. Walter Curtis continued. When Ptl. Curtis cornered the bandits in a rear room he threatened to blow their heads off; the three surrendered, not knowing that Curtis had fired his last round and was out of ammunition.
Curtis with the assistance of Ptl. Henry Quinn, Traffic D, disarmed and arrested the bandits.
Ptl. Killion was rushed to Polyclinic Hospital where he died the same day.
Ptl. Killion was appointed to the NYPD on Sept. 27, 1929. He was 30 years old, married with two children.
On May 27, 1936, a posthumous award of the NYPD Medal of Honor was presented to his widow, Mrs. Nellie Thompson Killion, at City Hall Plaza by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia.
Ptl. Walter Curtis was also awarded the NYPD Medal of Honor for his courage and actions on Jan. 18, 1935.
Ptl. Ferger was awarded Honorable Mention and Ptl. Quinn a Commendation. All of the holdup men who took part in the robbery of the store and the death of Ptl. Killion were arrested, convicted and put to death in the electric chair.
INTERESTING WEB SITE
FREE People Searches
http://www.reunitetonight.com/
The Best Legal Web Sites (so they say !!). Be sure to check out all the links.
http://www.nylawyer.com/law101/bestsites/
Investigators Guide to Sources of Information: There is some good information here. It is Downloadable, free to print and good to put into a binder for your desk.
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch4.htm
More Investigative Information Sites:
Local and State Governmentshttp://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch1.htm
Federal Agencies
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch2.htm
Directories, Reference Works http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch3.htmElectronic
Databaseshttp://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch4.htm
Investigators' Guide To the Internet
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/soi/soi_ch5.htmcondor
THE CIGAR AFICIONADO
What is the proper way to light a cigar?
If you use a match, wait until the sulphur burns off before using it to light your cigar. Wooden matches are recommended over regular matches.
If you use a lighter, use a butane one. The gasoline based ones impart a flavor to your smoke. Of course, Zippo will be irritated by this; they recommend you allow the flame to burn for a few seconds to allow the disturbing odor to dissipate.
Preheat the open end - the foot - by slowly rolling the cigar above the flame at an angle allowing a tiny black ring to form all the way around the wrapper. Try not to let the flame touch the cigar.
Then place the cigar in your mouth, and draw in as you repeat the process, slowly rolling the cigar at an angle above the flame, but never letting the lighter flame actually touch the cigar.
About a 1/2 inch or so away. Slowly spin the cigar to establish an even burn.
Once it appears to be fully lit pull it away from the flame, away from your mouth and actually look at the glowing foot to see if it's fully lit.
If the burn is uneven, repeat the previous step on the appropriate side to even the burn.
You can also try to blow on the end if there is a small bit of uneven burn, to help intensify the heat there, and then take a couple of steady draws. Then wait just a little while before continuing to puff; this short delay will allow the cigar a chance to stabilize and self correct the burn.
If the smoke happens to go out, knock off the ash, gently blowing through the cigar to clear out the old smoke, then begin to draw in while rolling the cigar through the lighting process.
And you thought lighting a cigar was easy?
�LEST WE FORGET�� NYPD Memorial
�It is not how they died that makes them a hero, but how they lived their lives�.
January 21, 1932 Ptl John Walsh, 17 Div, Shot-off duty robbery
January 21, 1941 Ptl Daniel Piselli, 88 Pct, Killed-line of duty incident
January 21, 1948 Ptl William Von Weisenstein, 101 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
January 21, 1958 Det Francis O�Rourke, 32 Sqd, Line of duty heart attack
January 21, 1986 Det Anthony Venditti, OCCB, Shot-investigation
January 21, 1995 Det Alfred Boesch, Housing SNEU, Line of duty incident
January 22, 1971 Ptl Robert Bolden, 75 Pct, Shot-off duty altercation
January 23, 1934 Ptl Joseph Misichia, 114 Pct, Shot-arrest
January 23, 1943 Ptl Pasquale Venturelli, 45 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
January 23, 1987 PO Michael Reidy, 41 Pct, Shot-off duty robbery
January 24, 1967 Ptl John Barry, PA, Line of duty heart attack
January 24, 1975 Ptl John Scala, ApplicInv, Shot-off duty robbery
January 25, 1994 PO Nicholas DeMatiis, 106 Pct, Auto pursuit
January 27, 1908 Ptl John Loughman, 15 Pct, Shot-off duty incident
January 27, 1938 Ptl Edward Roos, 8 Sqd, Auto accident on patrol
January 27, 1943 Ptl Angelo Dimuro, 1 Pct, Line of duty incident
January 27, 1972 Ptl Gregory Foster, 9 Pct, Shot-assassination
January 27, 1972 Ptl Rocco Laurie, 9 Pct, Shot-assassination
January 28, 1938 Sgt David Kilpatrick, 40 Pct, Shot-robbery in progress
January 28, 1980 PO Cecil Sledge, 69 Pct, Shot-car stop
January 30, 1930 Ptl Maurice O�Brien, 28 Pct, Shot-arrest
January 30, 1956 Ptl Benny Bruno, GCP Pct, Auto pursuit
Monday, January 10, 2005
PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS: ANOTHER DETECTIVE LESSON
Good detectives pay attention to details � little details, with diligence and follow up, that so often make the difference between success and failure.
Another example of the painstaking attention to details is exhibited in the work done during the investigation of �The Mad Dog Killers�, two Mutt-and-Jeff hoodlums who went on a killing spree starting on Christmas Eve in 1962.
Starting out in Woburn, Mass. on Christmas Eve 1962, Henry Dusablon and Emanuel Samperi wanted to treat their sweethearts to a trip to New York for the holiday. Dusablon was a hulking lug who was described as having �quick fists and slow wit�. Samperi was the swarthy shorty who grew up on the lower East Side, who spent his life trying to prove he was a tough guy.
They started by holding up an antique store that Dusablon once worked in, knowing that cash would be on hand. It wasn�t enough to just rob the place, though. Dusablon made sure to shoot the owner in the head before making off with the one-hundred dollar haul.
They left for New York with their sweethearts, soon finding themselves out of money by December 26. They then took off to holding up a variety store owner as he opened up for business, and once again shot the owner at point-blank range after ordering to lie on the ground. They made sure to remove a diamond ring from the body before leaving with the $15 cash that their latest heist produced.
Next they found themselves in Jamaica, robbing an Army-Navy store, and shooting that owner as well before leaving. A little while later, in the Bronx, a liquor store was also robbed, and the proprietor shot dead. This was followed by another liquor store in uptown Manhattan, with the clerk once again gravely wounded. All four victims that day had been shot in the head, with the cash registers left empty.
Detectives who had been working on the variety store homicide from earlier in the morning learned from a relative that the victim often wore a diamond ring, an anniversary ring that was missing from the body.
PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS: the detectives started a search of pawnshops looking for a recently pawned diamond ring. Bingo! One of the detectives found a receipt for a ring pawned at a pawnshop just blocks from the incident. The slip was signed by Henry Dusablon of Woburn, Mass.
CONTINUING TO PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS: the detectives learned that Dusablon and his friend left Massachusetts to go to New York on Christmas Eve. Detectives now fanned out throughout the Manhattan area checking hotels, armed with a photo of Dusablon they received from the Mass. authorities, and began a search of hotel records.
Bingo! Not only did they find a hotel clerk who recognized the culprits photo, they also found that he and Samperi checked in using their real names!
They then found Dusablon in his hotel room with his girl, and a short time later apprehended Samperi when he also returned to the room with his girlfriend.
Paying attention to details once again paid off. They found the pawned jewelry by poring over pawnshop records, and then found the killers by canvassing hotel to hotel, in person, until they found them.
By the way, the trial resulted in the pair being convicted and sentenced to death, but because of the repeal of capital punishment in 1965 they ended up spending the rest of their lives in prison. Samperi died in 1998, at age 64, and Dusablon will spend his 41st consecutive Christmas behind bars this year.
Interesting note is that the killers, who were dubbed the �Mad Dog Killers� after the spree became public, got less attention than they deserved at the time due to a newspaper strike.
When detectives asked Dusablon why he chose to murder for such paltry robberies, the thug answered: �Because dead men tell no tales.�
Pay Attention To Details!
INTERESTING WEB SITES
People Search/Directories:
www.1800ussearch.com/formation.html
1-800 U.S. SEARCH - Offers various search packages for finding anyone in the United States.
www.555-1212.com
PEOPLE FINDER - Offers multiple database searches from one search engine for locating email addresses and phone numbers.
www.databaseamerica.com/html/gpfind.htm
AMERICAN PEOPLE FINDER - Allows you to search for people using their name, address, or phone number.
www.bigfoot.com
BIG FOOT - Allows you to search email and white page listings using a person''s name.
www.411-USA.com
FOUR 11 - Phone number directory. Search by name.
FROM THE FILE OF: EVERYDAY YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW
I learned very long ago that elevation in rank does not necessarily correspond to an increase in knowledge. I think this was very clearly displayed when, years ago (it was probably during the TV series� first season) the then-Chief of Detectives for the Transit Police contributed the (unused) idea that we should show parts of the television show NYPD BLUE during the newly appointed detective orientation program.
He liked the way Sipowicz conducted interviews.
I recently contributed to someone else learning something new, I�m quite sure.
When I met a retired detective, Walter Crosby, who is the current Assistant Chief Investigator with the NYS Attorney General�s Office, we spent some time discussing the fact that he retired twenty-two years ago from the 14th Homicide Zone, which worked out of the current Brooklyn North Homicide office in the 90 Precinct.
Crosby fondly remembered time spent in the office typing out DD5s on the �old� manual typewriters, and I informed him that we are still using some of those same typewriters � Louis Savarese types our roll calls on one of the �old� manual typewriters every week!
We then shared some notes regarding detective overtime. Crosby noted that there was no such thing as overtime � you worked the case doing what had to be done regardless. He mentioned that when he retired they let him make some overtime to help his pension in the last months, so that he could finish the last year with about � ten hours � of overtime.
A LISTENING DEVICE TO DETECT GUNSHOTS
A recent article in the NY TIMES Technology Section (December 16, 2004) by Cyrus Farivar outlined a new technology being explored by several police agencies to help detect the sound of gunshots.
It appears that soon police agencies around the country may be able to equip street corners with microphones and video cameras to fight gun-related crime.
The system, based on work by Dr. Theodore Berger, director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California, uses the equipment and a computer to recognize gunshots, pinpoint where they came from and transmit the coordinates to a command center. It relies on software that mimics the way the human brain receives, processes and analyzes sound.
Several law enforcement agencies, including police departments in Chicago, Oklahoma City and Phoenix and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have expressed an interest in the system.
"When you put in automated gunshot recognition in a highly visible format like this, the residents no longer have to fear reprisal and the police no longer have to depend on the residents for accurate information," said Bryan Baker, 56, chief executive officer of Safety Dynamics. He and Dr. Berger co-founded the company in Oak Brook, Ill., 20 months ago to produce the system, called Smart Sensor Enabled Neural Threat Recognition and Identification, or Sentri.
The system is also reported to be able to distinguish gunshots from voices, car traffic and construction. "You can find that brains can do it, but you can't find physical systems that can do it," Dr. Berger said. "It's very hard to corrupt the signal in such a way that we don't know what's going on."
Over time, the system can learn to recognize certain sounds. "The gunshot has a particular unique signature, where you have the sound of the explosion when the firing pin hits the bullet and the sound of the bullet as it expels from the gun," Mr. Baker said. "You've got a little blip, and then a drop, and then a big blip, and with the training we've done now, we've picked it up so that both blips are part of what it has learned."
The system uses four microphones, contained along with the computer in a bulletproof box two feet by two feet by three feet. The system is able to determine quickly where a gun was fired, using the difference in time that the sound took to reach each microphone. The computer sends a signal to the video camera, which zooms in on the location. The system then transmits information and the video directly to law enforcement headquarters.
The devices, which cost up to $25,000 each, can cover an area with a radius of about 200 yards.
In about six months, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will test the devices, installing as many as 20 around Los Angeles County.
The information and video images can be immediately reviewed by officers at headquarters who may be able to determine the nature of the incident, he said. "Because of that we gain a tremendous tactical advantage before we arrive on the scene," he added.
IN MEMORIAM: ROUNDSMAN RICHARD COMISKY
Roundsman Richard Comisky was killed in the line of duty on March 11, 1883, in a highly unusual incident.
Comisky, 32 years old at the time, had 7 years of duty in the department when he was shot and killed by a jealous co-worker.
Roundsman Comisky was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was jealous of him. The two officers had been friends for many years and had hoped to get promoted together. When Comisky was promoted to Roundsman, the suspect became jealous. On the date of the incident Roundsman Comisky was the Acting Sergeant of the precinct and was at his desk.
Two other reserve officers were in the station house. The suspect entered and brought his .38 caliber firearm to Roundsman Comisky because it was not working properly. Roundsman Comisky repaired the firearm and handed it back to the suspect. The suspect then walked around the desk, exchanged words with one of the reserve officers and then stated, "I'll kill you" to Roundsman Comisky. Before the Roundsman could respond the suspect leapt across the desk and shot Roundsman Comisky in the head, killing him.
The suspect was taken into custody by the two reserve officers and charged with murder.
FROM THE DEATH INVESTIGATORS NOTEBOOK
Lividity: The process by which the blood settles into dependent capillaries and eventually �fixes� in certain areas of the body.
Postmortem Lividity: Also known as livor mortis. Caused by the pooling and settling of blood within the blood vessels from the effect of gravity. It appears as a purple discoloration of the skin. During life, the pumping action of the heart maintains a constant flow of blood through the numerous vessels of the body. Upon death, this pumping action ceases, and the blood pools within the dependent portions of the body (lowest points).
Blanchability: When lividity first develops, if you press your finger firmly against the discolored skin, the pressure will cause �blanching�. When pressure is released, the discoloration returns. After four or five hours the discoloration becomes clotted and pressure will NOT cause blanching.
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
January 10, 1987 PO Francis LaSalla, ESS1, Fire rescue
January 11, 1908 Ptl Robert Fitzgerald, Bridge Pct, Drowned-Rescue
January 11, 1916 Ptl Joseph Gaffney, 26 Pct, Shot-arrest
January 11, 1929 Ptl Albert Bruden, Mcy Unit, Auto pursuit
January 11, 1941 Ptl Edward Maher, Traffic P, Shot-robbery
January 12, 1974 PO Timothy Murphy, 120 Pct, Shot-off duty incident
January 12, 1981 PO Robert Walsh, 7 Pct, Shot-off duty robbery
January 13, 1924 Ptl John Schneider, 3Div, Robbery investigation
January 13, 1950 Ptl Edward Carraher, 14 Pct, Injured on patrol
January 13, 1997 Det Kenny Fung, 72 Sqd, Heart attack during investigation
January 15, 1938 Ptl Frank Zaccor, 14 Pct, Shot-robbery in progress
January 16, 1953 Ptl Thomas Sheehan, 10 Pct, Line of duty heart attack
January 17, 1947 Ptl Harry Schriffies, McyDist, Shot-investigation
January 18, 1935 Ptl James Killion, 17 Pct, Shot-robbery in progress
January 18, 1960 Sgt Edward Johnson, 5 Pct, Stabbed by EDP
January 18, 1967 Det Harold Jacob, Safe Loft & Burg Sqd, Line of duty heart attack
January 18, 1979 PO Robert Manzione, 7 Pct, Line of duty heart attack
Good detectives pay attention to details � little details, with diligence and follow up, that so often make the difference between success and failure.
Another example of the painstaking attention to details is exhibited in the work done during the investigation of �The Mad Dog Killers�, two Mutt-and-Jeff hoodlums who went on a killing spree starting on Christmas Eve in 1962.
Starting out in Woburn, Mass. on Christmas Eve 1962, Henry Dusablon and Emanuel Samperi wanted to treat their sweethearts to a trip to New York for the holiday. Dusablon was a hulking lug who was described as having �quick fists and slow wit�. Samperi was the swarthy shorty who grew up on the lower East Side, who spent his life trying to prove he was a tough guy.
They started by holding up an antique store that Dusablon once worked in, knowing that cash would be on hand. It wasn�t enough to just rob the place, though. Dusablon made sure to shoot the owner in the head before making off with the one-hundred dollar haul.
They left for New York with their sweethearts, soon finding themselves out of money by December 26. They then took off to holding up a variety store owner as he opened up for business, and once again shot the owner at point-blank range after ordering to lie on the ground. They made sure to remove a diamond ring from the body before leaving with the $15 cash that their latest heist produced.
Next they found themselves in Jamaica, robbing an Army-Navy store, and shooting that owner as well before leaving. A little while later, in the Bronx, a liquor store was also robbed, and the proprietor shot dead. This was followed by another liquor store in uptown Manhattan, with the clerk once again gravely wounded. All four victims that day had been shot in the head, with the cash registers left empty.
Detectives who had been working on the variety store homicide from earlier in the morning learned from a relative that the victim often wore a diamond ring, an anniversary ring that was missing from the body.
PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS: the detectives started a search of pawnshops looking for a recently pawned diamond ring. Bingo! One of the detectives found a receipt for a ring pawned at a pawnshop just blocks from the incident. The slip was signed by Henry Dusablon of Woburn, Mass.
CONTINUING TO PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS: the detectives learned that Dusablon and his friend left Massachusetts to go to New York on Christmas Eve. Detectives now fanned out throughout the Manhattan area checking hotels, armed with a photo of Dusablon they received from the Mass. authorities, and began a search of hotel records.
Bingo! Not only did they find a hotel clerk who recognized the culprits photo, they also found that he and Samperi checked in using their real names!
They then found Dusablon in his hotel room with his girl, and a short time later apprehended Samperi when he also returned to the room with his girlfriend.
Paying attention to details once again paid off. They found the pawned jewelry by poring over pawnshop records, and then found the killers by canvassing hotel to hotel, in person, until they found them.
By the way, the trial resulted in the pair being convicted and sentenced to death, but because of the repeal of capital punishment in 1965 they ended up spending the rest of their lives in prison. Samperi died in 1998, at age 64, and Dusablon will spend his 41st consecutive Christmas behind bars this year.
Interesting note is that the killers, who were dubbed the �Mad Dog Killers� after the spree became public, got less attention than they deserved at the time due to a newspaper strike.
When detectives asked Dusablon why he chose to murder for such paltry robberies, the thug answered: �Because dead men tell no tales.�
Pay Attention To Details!
INTERESTING WEB SITES
People Search/Directories:
www.1800ussearch.com/formation.html
1-800 U.S. SEARCH - Offers various search packages for finding anyone in the United States.
www.555-1212.com
PEOPLE FINDER - Offers multiple database searches from one search engine for locating email addresses and phone numbers.
www.databaseamerica.com/html/gpfind.htm
AMERICAN PEOPLE FINDER - Allows you to search for people using their name, address, or phone number.
www.bigfoot.com
BIG FOOT - Allows you to search email and white page listings using a person''s name.
www.411-USA.com
FOUR 11 - Phone number directory. Search by name.
FROM THE FILE OF: EVERYDAY YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW
I learned very long ago that elevation in rank does not necessarily correspond to an increase in knowledge. I think this was very clearly displayed when, years ago (it was probably during the TV series� first season) the then-Chief of Detectives for the Transit Police contributed the (unused) idea that we should show parts of the television show NYPD BLUE during the newly appointed detective orientation program.
He liked the way Sipowicz conducted interviews.
I recently contributed to someone else learning something new, I�m quite sure.
When I met a retired detective, Walter Crosby, who is the current Assistant Chief Investigator with the NYS Attorney General�s Office, we spent some time discussing the fact that he retired twenty-two years ago from the 14th Homicide Zone, which worked out of the current Brooklyn North Homicide office in the 90 Precinct.
Crosby fondly remembered time spent in the office typing out DD5s on the �old� manual typewriters, and I informed him that we are still using some of those same typewriters � Louis Savarese types our roll calls on one of the �old� manual typewriters every week!
We then shared some notes regarding detective overtime. Crosby noted that there was no such thing as overtime � you worked the case doing what had to be done regardless. He mentioned that when he retired they let him make some overtime to help his pension in the last months, so that he could finish the last year with about � ten hours � of overtime.
A LISTENING DEVICE TO DETECT GUNSHOTS
A recent article in the NY TIMES Technology Section (December 16, 2004) by Cyrus Farivar outlined a new technology being explored by several police agencies to help detect the sound of gunshots.
It appears that soon police agencies around the country may be able to equip street corners with microphones and video cameras to fight gun-related crime.
The system, based on work by Dr. Theodore Berger, director of the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California, uses the equipment and a computer to recognize gunshots, pinpoint where they came from and transmit the coordinates to a command center. It relies on software that mimics the way the human brain receives, processes and analyzes sound.
Several law enforcement agencies, including police departments in Chicago, Oklahoma City and Phoenix and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have expressed an interest in the system.
"When you put in automated gunshot recognition in a highly visible format like this, the residents no longer have to fear reprisal and the police no longer have to depend on the residents for accurate information," said Bryan Baker, 56, chief executive officer of Safety Dynamics. He and Dr. Berger co-founded the company in Oak Brook, Ill., 20 months ago to produce the system, called Smart Sensor Enabled Neural Threat Recognition and Identification, or Sentri.
The system is also reported to be able to distinguish gunshots from voices, car traffic and construction. "You can find that brains can do it, but you can't find physical systems that can do it," Dr. Berger said. "It's very hard to corrupt the signal in such a way that we don't know what's going on."
Over time, the system can learn to recognize certain sounds. "The gunshot has a particular unique signature, where you have the sound of the explosion when the firing pin hits the bullet and the sound of the bullet as it expels from the gun," Mr. Baker said. "You've got a little blip, and then a drop, and then a big blip, and with the training we've done now, we've picked it up so that both blips are part of what it has learned."
The system uses four microphones, contained along with the computer in a bulletproof box two feet by two feet by three feet. The system is able to determine quickly where a gun was fired, using the difference in time that the sound took to reach each microphone. The computer sends a signal to the video camera, which zooms in on the location. The system then transmits information and the video directly to law enforcement headquarters.
The devices, which cost up to $25,000 each, can cover an area with a radius of about 200 yards.
In about six months, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will test the devices, installing as many as 20 around Los Angeles County.
The information and video images can be immediately reviewed by officers at headquarters who may be able to determine the nature of the incident, he said. "Because of that we gain a tremendous tactical advantage before we arrive on the scene," he added.
IN MEMORIAM: ROUNDSMAN RICHARD COMISKY
Roundsman Richard Comisky was killed in the line of duty on March 11, 1883, in a highly unusual incident.
Comisky, 32 years old at the time, had 7 years of duty in the department when he was shot and killed by a jealous co-worker.
Roundsman Comisky was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was jealous of him. The two officers had been friends for many years and had hoped to get promoted together. When Comisky was promoted to Roundsman, the suspect became jealous. On the date of the incident Roundsman Comisky was the Acting Sergeant of the precinct and was at his desk.
Two other reserve officers were in the station house. The suspect entered and brought his .38 caliber firearm to Roundsman Comisky because it was not working properly. Roundsman Comisky repaired the firearm and handed it back to the suspect. The suspect then walked around the desk, exchanged words with one of the reserve officers and then stated, "I'll kill you" to Roundsman Comisky. Before the Roundsman could respond the suspect leapt across the desk and shot Roundsman Comisky in the head, killing him.
The suspect was taken into custody by the two reserve officers and charged with murder.
FROM THE DEATH INVESTIGATORS NOTEBOOK
Lividity: The process by which the blood settles into dependent capillaries and eventually �fixes� in certain areas of the body.
Postmortem Lividity: Also known as livor mortis. Caused by the pooling and settling of blood within the blood vessels from the effect of gravity. It appears as a purple discoloration of the skin. During life, the pumping action of the heart maintains a constant flow of blood through the numerous vessels of the body. Upon death, this pumping action ceases, and the blood pools within the dependent portions of the body (lowest points).
Blanchability: When lividity first develops, if you press your finger firmly against the discolored skin, the pressure will cause �blanching�. When pressure is released, the discoloration returns. After four or five hours the discoloration becomes clotted and pressure will NOT cause blanching.
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
January 10, 1987 PO Francis LaSalla, ESS1, Fire rescue
January 11, 1908 Ptl Robert Fitzgerald, Bridge Pct, Drowned-Rescue
January 11, 1916 Ptl Joseph Gaffney, 26 Pct, Shot-arrest
January 11, 1929 Ptl Albert Bruden, Mcy Unit, Auto pursuit
January 11, 1941 Ptl Edward Maher, Traffic P, Shot-robbery
January 12, 1974 PO Timothy Murphy, 120 Pct, Shot-off duty incident
January 12, 1981 PO Robert Walsh, 7 Pct, Shot-off duty robbery
January 13, 1924 Ptl John Schneider, 3Div, Robbery investigation
January 13, 1950 Ptl Edward Carraher, 14 Pct, Injured on patrol
January 13, 1997 Det Kenny Fung, 72 Sqd, Heart attack during investigation
January 15, 1938 Ptl Frank Zaccor, 14 Pct, Shot-robbery in progress
January 16, 1953 Ptl Thomas Sheehan, 10 Pct, Line of duty heart attack
January 17, 1947 Ptl Harry Schriffies, McyDist, Shot-investigation
January 18, 1935 Ptl James Killion, 17 Pct, Shot-robbery in progress
January 18, 1960 Sgt Edward Johnson, 5 Pct, Stabbed by EDP
January 18, 1967 Det Harold Jacob, Safe Loft & Burg Sqd, Line of duty heart attack
January 18, 1979 PO Robert Manzione, 7 Pct, Line of duty heart attack
Monday, December 27, 2004
GOOD DETECTIVES PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS
Not the uniformed ones, but the little details of an investigation that can mean the difference by failure and success.
When asked to check on parking tickets issued in an area, or 250�s issued, the good detective takes the effort required to get the full and accurate facts.
During the Son of Sam investigation, detective�s received information from a woman that a car was issued a parking ticket around the time of one of the shootings. A check of the precinct�s records proved no such summons could be found. Yet, based on the woman�s statement, the detectives believed there was such summons � it just hadn�t been turned in on time.
After numerous (emphasis stressed!) attempts to track down such a parking ticket the detectives found one, which turned out to lead them to an address in Yonkers � and the apprehension of David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam.
Pay attention to details. Follow up with diligence; get the accurate facts and report your findings promptly, correctly, and to the proper people.
Pay Attention To Details.
YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
You take for granted sometimes the things you learn. Just when did you learn this and that? You just did.
I�m not sure when, but I learned that when it rains the Belt Parkway sucks. So does the Interboro (Jackie Robinson). And no matter how many years some people have been coming to work along the same route (Kevin Smith), some people will still be late because it�s raining, or the Sanitation truck was blocking the street, or for some other reason.
I learned that no matter how much you try, getting detectives to sign out and into the movement log is a day to day battle. As a detective I worked with a partner who flat out refused to sign out and in; he figured if you never did, they couldn�t hold it against you. I also learned that logic is not always reasonable.
I�ve learned that no matter where you are, if you have a coffee club in the squad there will be someone who refuses to participate who will then be caught drinking the coffee. It�s just going to be, accept it.
I�ve learned, but still can�t understand, that someone will always take the last copy of an overtime slip or some other necessary form without making any copies. And forget about drawing lines in a log; you have to practically order somebody to do that.
I�ve learned that you don�t want to have a Legal Aid attorney as a robbery complainant. Not a good chance for an ID here. You can imagine the internal conflicts going on with your complainant while you�re trying to solve the case. I learned that one first hand.
I learned that a complainant who, after having a gun stuck in their face and robbed of their money, can then tell you that it �wasn�t a bad robbery, I mean at least no one got hurt�, is also not going to make a very complainant for you.
Along the way I�ve learned that no matter where the squad, you can go to the bank with the fact that the detectives who complain the most and give everyone the hardest time about everything are probably those that do the least, and those that spend all their energy telling everyone how good they are probably aren�t. Look close for the quiet and steady ones.
I learned many years ago that you cannot get a pork chop anywhere else like the one you get at Two Tom�s on Third Avenue in Brooklyn. You can�t beat the meal there anywhere. A true cop�s joint � lot�s of food at a good price.
I learned long ago, probably as a youngster from my father, that if it�s for free a cop will be there. Whether you could use it or not.
As a rookie cop I worked with a seasoned vet who went into a popular bodega once a day for a free pack of cigarettes, even though he didn�t smoke. He was probably selling them at half-price to some relative.
I learned a long time ago that the most important tool a detective has is his mouth � the ability to talk to people, and to get people to talk to them, is the true secret of being a detective. The value that some detective�s have �in the room� getting the perp to talk is irreplaceable.
And I�ve learned that no matter what he wears, Larry Eggers will look like Larry Eggers, and that if there�s any food missing from the fridge that Greg Millwater will get blamed, and that I lived long enough to see even Tony Viggiani come in late for work. Alright, I may never see Tony do that again, but everything else is sure to be.
FORENSIC NEWS UPDATE:
DNA NEWS: GRANT AIMS AT DNA ID-ING OF HUMAN REMAINS
The United States Justice Department announced the funding of 5 grants totaling more than $1.9 million to the DNA Identity Laboratory at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
The largest grant, for $750,000, will be used for an 18-month project that will focus on the DNA testing of unidentified remains and the family reference samples needed to identify them. UNTHSC personnel will work with medical examiners, coroners' offices, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Center for Missing Adults, and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to identify and collect unidentified human remains samples and family reference samples.
Details at:
http://go.reachmail.net/rmgo.asp?tid=103772&eid=19268&sb_id=58164,58164
INTERESTING WEB SITES
Resources: Business Directories
AT&T 800att.net/dir800/AT&T 800
DIRECTORY - Provides a directory of businesses that have an 1-800 number.
Big Yellow Pagess12.bigyellow.com/
BIG YELLOW PAGES - On-line search database of yellow page listings.
World Yellow Pages: www.worldyellowpages.com
WORLD YELLOW PAGES - On-line yellow page listings.
Yellow Pages: www.yellow.com/
YELLOW PAGES - Searchable yellow page listings.
Yellow Pages Online: www.ypo.com/
YELLOW PAGES ONLINE - allows you to search yellow page listings.
Zip2 Door-to-Door: www.zip2.com
ZIP2 DOOR-TO-DOOR - Search the yellow pages. Offers a unique service whereby you may search for businesses of a particular type and it will provide you with a listing of the ones that are close to your home.
ON A HISTORICAL NOTE: POLICE OFFICERS PAY
What was the pay of a policeofficer in the 1870s & 1880s?
First, The job of a cop was considered to be a very good one as their salary was about twice the wage of the average worker.
A cop started at a salary of $800 or $900 per year, each year the salary was increased until after 5 years a patrolman made $1,200 per year.
Secondly, a patrolman was able to retire on half pay after 25 years, at a time when very few other workers had pensions.
They did work a lot of hours, about 80 or more per week. Beside walking their beat a cop had to spend time in the station house on reserve duty. He was lucky if he received one day off a month.
By the 1930s the pay of a patrolman after 5 years was $3,000 per year. In 1955, the starting pay was $3,900 per year.
Also, back in those days and up until the late 1950's, pay day was on the 1st and 15th day of the month, so that meant that there were times that a police officer had to stretch his money out over three weekends before the next check.
For many years Detective 3rd Grade did not have any increase in pay over Patrolman.
They received the same pay as a Patrolman up into the late 1950s, and then when they did receive an increase it was only $276.00 per year.
They did it for the dedication they had to the work!
ANOTHER DECEMBER
To the generation of cops who joined The Department in the Fifties, a remembrance of a tumultuous time began on December 2nd 1956 at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater when a bomb exploded and injured six people.
But, for the Bomb Squad it had started in November 1940 when the "Mad Bomber" placed his first bomb at a Con Edison facility. Then another was found.
But, this spree was short lived as the Mad Bomber- "FP" as he signed his letters (for "Fair Play"), wrote to the newspapers and NYPD to say he was suspending his bombings until the war was over because "of my patriotic feelings."
True to his word no bombs appeared over the next 9 years. In 1950 he resumed his activities and the bombs started appearing all over the place. Fortunately, many were unexploded devices.
The NYPD investigation was headed up by Insp. HOWARD FINNEY.
The investigators decided to give "psychiatric profiling" a try and turned to Dr. JAMES BRUSSEL, an Assistant Commissioner with the NY State Dept. of Mental Hygiene. What came out of this "profiling" was astounding!
Dr. Brussel reasoned that the Mad Bomber was a male, probably a former employee of Con Edison, middle aged, probably a Slav, Catholic, lived in Connecticut, was likely unmarried and living with a female relative who was not his Mother, very neat, and the most astounding revelation of all from Dr. Brussel- "and when you catch him he'll be wearing a double-breasted suit- buttoned"!
The case ended in January 1957 with the arrest of GEORGE METESKY (54) at his home in Connecticut, where he lived with his two unmarried sisters. When he got dressed to be taken back to New York City, he donned his double-breasted suit- buttoned!
Metesky was found to be insane and committed to the Matteawan Asylum For The Criminally Insane. He was released in 1973, returned to Connecticut and died in 1994 at the age of 90, with very few noting his passing.
(Thanks to Louie Hollander, publisher of the �Biehler Grams� for this contribution.)
IN MEMORIAM: P.O. CARLOS KING, TRANSIT PATROLMAN
On December 20, 1976, PO Carlos King of the New York City Transit Police Department was killed in the line of duty, as he worked off duty driving a taxi cab.
The 36 year old patrolman was working as a medallion cab driver while on vacation, and was found on a quiet Queens Village street of one-family homes, the apparent victim of a robbery.
King�s shield was out indicating he had attempted to take police action. The murderer was later arrested.
The off-duty transit patrolman, Carlos King of South Floral Park, L.I., was described as an excellent officer and hardworking family man. His wife, Evangeline, and two sons, aged 15 and 11, survive.
According to Lieut. Thomas Ahearn of the 16th Homicide Zone, the Squad Commander at the time, King had been driving cabs off duty for 10 years and was found slumped behind the wheel by a neighborhood resident in front 107-17 Monterey Street. He had been shot twice, once in the neck and once in the face.
His revolver was still in its holster.
Police officers summoned to the scene shortly after 5 A.M. found his revolver still in its holster and his shield and identification card laying next him. His empty wallet had been dropped on the floor between his feet, but 22 single dollar bills remained in his shirt pocket.
Lieutenant Ahearn also said at the time that the street where the crime was committed ended in a schoolyard about half a block away and that it was not uncommon for would be robbers to lure cab drivers to dead-end streets in areas unknown to them. He said that while the neighborhood was generally quiet, it had been troubled by "a couple of bad youth gangs" for some time.
PO King had been assigned to plainclothes duty with a Queens based Transit Police command. He had earned six commendations during his 12 years on the force, including one distinguished-duty medal for disarming a knife-wielding man on a subway train.
�LEST WE FORGET�� NYPD Memorial
�It is not how they died that makes them a hero, but how they lived their lives�.
December 27, 1944 Det Anthony McGinley, 5 DetDist, Shot-Domestic dispute
December 28, 1929 Ptl Joseph Jockel, McyDist, Shot-arrest
December 28, 1974 PO Kenneth Mahon, 41 Pct, Shot-robbery
December 28, 1978 PO David Guttenberg, 68 Pct, Shot-robbery
December 28, 1991 Sgt Keith Levine, CommDiv, Shot-robbery, off duty
December 29, 1878 Ptl Asa Furness, 10 Pct, Shot by EDP
January 2, 1932 Ptl John Kranz, Det Sqd, Shot
January 3, 1975 PO Michael McConnon, 13 Pct, Shot-robbery
Wishing all a joyous, happy and healthy New Year!
Not the uniformed ones, but the little details of an investigation that can mean the difference by failure and success.
When asked to check on parking tickets issued in an area, or 250�s issued, the good detective takes the effort required to get the full and accurate facts.
During the Son of Sam investigation, detective�s received information from a woman that a car was issued a parking ticket around the time of one of the shootings. A check of the precinct�s records proved no such summons could be found. Yet, based on the woman�s statement, the detectives believed there was such summons � it just hadn�t been turned in on time.
After numerous (emphasis stressed!) attempts to track down such a parking ticket the detectives found one, which turned out to lead them to an address in Yonkers � and the apprehension of David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam.
Pay attention to details. Follow up with diligence; get the accurate facts and report your findings promptly, correctly, and to the proper people.
Pay Attention To Details.
YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
You take for granted sometimes the things you learn. Just when did you learn this and that? You just did.
I�m not sure when, but I learned that when it rains the Belt Parkway sucks. So does the Interboro (Jackie Robinson). And no matter how many years some people have been coming to work along the same route (Kevin Smith), some people will still be late because it�s raining, or the Sanitation truck was blocking the street, or for some other reason.
I learned that no matter how much you try, getting detectives to sign out and into the movement log is a day to day battle. As a detective I worked with a partner who flat out refused to sign out and in; he figured if you never did, they couldn�t hold it against you. I also learned that logic is not always reasonable.
I�ve learned that no matter where you are, if you have a coffee club in the squad there will be someone who refuses to participate who will then be caught drinking the coffee. It�s just going to be, accept it.
I�ve learned, but still can�t understand, that someone will always take the last copy of an overtime slip or some other necessary form without making any copies. And forget about drawing lines in a log; you have to practically order somebody to do that.
I�ve learned that you don�t want to have a Legal Aid attorney as a robbery complainant. Not a good chance for an ID here. You can imagine the internal conflicts going on with your complainant while you�re trying to solve the case. I learned that one first hand.
I learned that a complainant who, after having a gun stuck in their face and robbed of their money, can then tell you that it �wasn�t a bad robbery, I mean at least no one got hurt�, is also not going to make a very complainant for you.
Along the way I�ve learned that no matter where the squad, you can go to the bank with the fact that the detectives who complain the most and give everyone the hardest time about everything are probably those that do the least, and those that spend all their energy telling everyone how good they are probably aren�t. Look close for the quiet and steady ones.
I learned many years ago that you cannot get a pork chop anywhere else like the one you get at Two Tom�s on Third Avenue in Brooklyn. You can�t beat the meal there anywhere. A true cop�s joint � lot�s of food at a good price.
I learned long ago, probably as a youngster from my father, that if it�s for free a cop will be there. Whether you could use it or not.
As a rookie cop I worked with a seasoned vet who went into a popular bodega once a day for a free pack of cigarettes, even though he didn�t smoke. He was probably selling them at half-price to some relative.
I learned a long time ago that the most important tool a detective has is his mouth � the ability to talk to people, and to get people to talk to them, is the true secret of being a detective. The value that some detective�s have �in the room� getting the perp to talk is irreplaceable.
And I�ve learned that no matter what he wears, Larry Eggers will look like Larry Eggers, and that if there�s any food missing from the fridge that Greg Millwater will get blamed, and that I lived long enough to see even Tony Viggiani come in late for work. Alright, I may never see Tony do that again, but everything else is sure to be.
FORENSIC NEWS UPDATE:
DNA NEWS: GRANT AIMS AT DNA ID-ING OF HUMAN REMAINS
The United States Justice Department announced the funding of 5 grants totaling more than $1.9 million to the DNA Identity Laboratory at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
The largest grant, for $750,000, will be used for an 18-month project that will focus on the DNA testing of unidentified remains and the family reference samples needed to identify them. UNTHSC personnel will work with medical examiners, coroners' offices, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Center for Missing Adults, and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to identify and collect unidentified human remains samples and family reference samples.
Details at:
http://go.reachmail.net/rmgo.asp?tid=103772&eid=19268&sb_id=58164,58164
INTERESTING WEB SITES
Resources: Business Directories
AT&T 800att.net/dir800/AT&T 800
DIRECTORY - Provides a directory of businesses that have an 1-800 number.
Big Yellow Pagess12.bigyellow.com/
BIG YELLOW PAGES - On-line search database of yellow page listings.
World Yellow Pages: www.worldyellowpages.com
WORLD YELLOW PAGES - On-line yellow page listings.
Yellow Pages: www.yellow.com/
YELLOW PAGES - Searchable yellow page listings.
Yellow Pages Online: www.ypo.com/
YELLOW PAGES ONLINE - allows you to search yellow page listings.
Zip2 Door-to-Door: www.zip2.com
ZIP2 DOOR-TO-DOOR - Search the yellow pages. Offers a unique service whereby you may search for businesses of a particular type and it will provide you with a listing of the ones that are close to your home.
ON A HISTORICAL NOTE: POLICE OFFICERS PAY
What was the pay of a policeofficer in the 1870s & 1880s?
First, The job of a cop was considered to be a very good one as their salary was about twice the wage of the average worker.
A cop started at a salary of $800 or $900 per year, each year the salary was increased until after 5 years a patrolman made $1,200 per year.
Secondly, a patrolman was able to retire on half pay after 25 years, at a time when very few other workers had pensions.
They did work a lot of hours, about 80 or more per week. Beside walking their beat a cop had to spend time in the station house on reserve duty. He was lucky if he received one day off a month.
By the 1930s the pay of a patrolman after 5 years was $3,000 per year. In 1955, the starting pay was $3,900 per year.
Also, back in those days and up until the late 1950's, pay day was on the 1st and 15th day of the month, so that meant that there were times that a police officer had to stretch his money out over three weekends before the next check.
For many years Detective 3rd Grade did not have any increase in pay over Patrolman.
They received the same pay as a Patrolman up into the late 1950s, and then when they did receive an increase it was only $276.00 per year.
They did it for the dedication they had to the work!
ANOTHER DECEMBER
To the generation of cops who joined The Department in the Fifties, a remembrance of a tumultuous time began on December 2nd 1956 at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater when a bomb exploded and injured six people.
But, for the Bomb Squad it had started in November 1940 when the "Mad Bomber" placed his first bomb at a Con Edison facility. Then another was found.
But, this spree was short lived as the Mad Bomber- "FP" as he signed his letters (for "Fair Play"), wrote to the newspapers and NYPD to say he was suspending his bombings until the war was over because "of my patriotic feelings."
True to his word no bombs appeared over the next 9 years. In 1950 he resumed his activities and the bombs started appearing all over the place. Fortunately, many were unexploded devices.
The NYPD investigation was headed up by Insp. HOWARD FINNEY.
The investigators decided to give "psychiatric profiling" a try and turned to Dr. JAMES BRUSSEL, an Assistant Commissioner with the NY State Dept. of Mental Hygiene. What came out of this "profiling" was astounding!
Dr. Brussel reasoned that the Mad Bomber was a male, probably a former employee of Con Edison, middle aged, probably a Slav, Catholic, lived in Connecticut, was likely unmarried and living with a female relative who was not his Mother, very neat, and the most astounding revelation of all from Dr. Brussel- "and when you catch him he'll be wearing a double-breasted suit- buttoned"!
The case ended in January 1957 with the arrest of GEORGE METESKY (54) at his home in Connecticut, where he lived with his two unmarried sisters. When he got dressed to be taken back to New York City, he donned his double-breasted suit- buttoned!
Metesky was found to be insane and committed to the Matteawan Asylum For The Criminally Insane. He was released in 1973, returned to Connecticut and died in 1994 at the age of 90, with very few noting his passing.
(Thanks to Louie Hollander, publisher of the �Biehler Grams� for this contribution.)
IN MEMORIAM: P.O. CARLOS KING, TRANSIT PATROLMAN
On December 20, 1976, PO Carlos King of the New York City Transit Police Department was killed in the line of duty, as he worked off duty driving a taxi cab.
The 36 year old patrolman was working as a medallion cab driver while on vacation, and was found on a quiet Queens Village street of one-family homes, the apparent victim of a robbery.
King�s shield was out indicating he had attempted to take police action. The murderer was later arrested.
The off-duty transit patrolman, Carlos King of South Floral Park, L.I., was described as an excellent officer and hardworking family man. His wife, Evangeline, and two sons, aged 15 and 11, survive.
According to Lieut. Thomas Ahearn of the 16th Homicide Zone, the Squad Commander at the time, King had been driving cabs off duty for 10 years and was found slumped behind the wheel by a neighborhood resident in front 107-17 Monterey Street. He had been shot twice, once in the neck and once in the face.
His revolver was still in its holster.
Police officers summoned to the scene shortly after 5 A.M. found his revolver still in its holster and his shield and identification card laying next him. His empty wallet had been dropped on the floor between his feet, but 22 single dollar bills remained in his shirt pocket.
Lieutenant Ahearn also said at the time that the street where the crime was committed ended in a schoolyard about half a block away and that it was not uncommon for would be robbers to lure cab drivers to dead-end streets in areas unknown to them. He said that while the neighborhood was generally quiet, it had been troubled by "a couple of bad youth gangs" for some time.
PO King had been assigned to plainclothes duty with a Queens based Transit Police command. He had earned six commendations during his 12 years on the force, including one distinguished-duty medal for disarming a knife-wielding man on a subway train.
�LEST WE FORGET�� NYPD Memorial
�It is not how they died that makes them a hero, but how they lived their lives�.
December 27, 1944 Det Anthony McGinley, 5 DetDist, Shot-Domestic dispute
December 28, 1929 Ptl Joseph Jockel, McyDist, Shot-arrest
December 28, 1974 PO Kenneth Mahon, 41 Pct, Shot-robbery
December 28, 1978 PO David Guttenberg, 68 Pct, Shot-robbery
December 28, 1991 Sgt Keith Levine, CommDiv, Shot-robbery, off duty
December 29, 1878 Ptl Asa Furness, 10 Pct, Shot by EDP
January 2, 1932 Ptl John Kranz, Det Sqd, Shot
January 3, 1975 PO Michael McConnon, 13 Pct, Shot-robbery
Wishing all a joyous, happy and healthy New Year!
Monday, December 20, 2004
IN MEMORIAM
I recently received this e-mail. If you can read this through its entirety without a tear in your eyes, it�s probably time for you to retire, because you�ve lost your heart and soul.
I am printing it here in memory of those who are not here to read it themselves.
Her hair was up in a pony tail,her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school,and she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her,that she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand,if she went to school alone.
But she was not afraid;she knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmatesof why he wasn't there today.
But still her mother worried,for her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,she tried to keep her daughter home.
But the little girl went to schooleager to tell them all.
About a dad she never seesa dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back,for everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher calleda student from the class.
To introduce their daddy,as seconds slowly passed.
At last the teacher called her name,every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching,for a man who wasn't there.
"Where's her daddy at?"she heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one,"another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back,she heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,too busy to waste his day.
"The words did not offend her,as she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,who told her to go on.
And with hands behind her back,slowly she began to speak.And out from the mouth of a child,came words incredibly unique.
"My Daddy couldn't be here,because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him,I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy,and how much he loves me so.
He loved to tell me storieshe taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses,and taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share fudge sundaes,and ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him.I'm not standing here alone.
"Cause my daddy's always with me,even though we are apart
I know because he told me,he'll forever be in my heart"
With that, her little hand reached up,and lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat,beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere here in the crowd of dads,her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,who was wise beyond her years.
For she stood up for the loveof a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,doing what was right.
And when she dropped her hand back down,staring straight into the crowd.
She finished with a voice so soft,but its message clear and loud.
"I love my daddy very much,he's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,but heaven's just too far
You see he was a policemanand died just this past year
When airplanes hit the towersand taught Americans to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes,it's like he never went away.
"And then she closed her eyes,and she saw him there that day.
And to her mothers amazement,she witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children,all starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them,who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,they saw him at her side.
"I know you're with me Daddy,"to the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it,for each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,by the love of her shining star.
And given the gift of believing,that heaven is never too far.
They say it takes a minute to find a specialperson, an hour to appreciate them,a day to love them, but then an entirelife to forget them.
In this holiday season of happiness and cheer, please take a moment to remember our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. In some way, however small, reach out and remember.
THE 16TH PRECINCT
As it was mentioned in the last posting, here is some information on the 16th Precinct, forwarded by Retired Det1 John Reilly.
The 16th Det. Sqd to which Ptl.(Det) Turner was assigned to was located at 345 West 47th Street, Manhattan.
This was an old station house opened in 1862 as the 22nd Pct. In 1929 it became the 18th Pct., until 1940 when the 18th Pct. moved to a new station house at 306 West 54th St. This 18th precinct is today�s Midtown North Precinct.
After the 18th Pct. moved out Traffic "D" took over the Station House, until Feb. 6, 1947, when the 16th Pct. was then activated at the old 47th Street Station House.
The 16th Pct. covered from 42nd St. to 52nd Street, from 5th Ave. to the Hudson River.
In 1968, the 16th Pct. was abolished and Safety Unit "B" occupied the building until 1969, then moved to 138 West 30th St. (old 14th Pct.)
Shortly after the building was demolished. Today there is a park and playground where the old station house stood.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
The good news is that New York City is the safest large city in America, and the world!
The good news is that crime is at its lowest in New York City in decades.
The good news is that the city has an excess of billions of dollars in its budget.
The good news is that businesses in the city are thriving, due in large part to the first two items above.
The good news is that tourism in the city is once again bringing big bucks into the city.
The bad news is, we�ll never see a decent pay raise that bring us up to the levels of our close neighbors in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Jersey City, Newark, Port Authority, �
WHO COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE?
Set the scenario.
Health Services calls the command to direct a detective to Lefrak for Random Drug Testing. Happens everyday of the week throughout the city.
Command gets the call, and seeing that the detective is due in that afternoon for a 4x1 tour, they call him at home to let him know. Perhaps he�d like to go direct to Lefrak on his way in? Certainly a reasonable assumption.
Getting the detective on the phone the command advises him of the order. �Just want to let you know you have to report to Lefrak for Random Drug Testing�.
The detective asks: �What day is the random testing for?�
This from a seasoned detective. (Ensign Pulver).
INTERESTING WEB SITE
The Department of Transportation (DOT) offers this Web site for consumers. It
provides detailed safety information about passenger vehicles, including crash test
data and rollover ratings, links to information on defects and recalls, and answers
to frequently asked questions.
http://safercar.gov
2004 CIA FACTBOOK: is now available and can be downloaded online.This site also has some nice sites/links available on
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
KOJAK RETURNS?
It was recently reported on the AP wires that Ving Rhames signed with USA Network to do a nine-episode weekly series playing the detective commander Kojak, which is scheduled to debut in March.
This could prove to be very interesting, indeed.
FROM THE FILE OF �EVERYDAY YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW�
Today I learned that Target Stores has this year forbidden the Salvation Army from setting up a Santa Claus with the traditional Christmastime kettle for donations in front of any of their stores.
Seems they don�t want to appear to have any affiliation with any specific charitable and/or denominational organization.
Talk about playing the politically correct game to the max! In a scene straight out of the �Miracle of 34th Street� movie, Wal-Mart Stores has agreed to match any donations the Salvation Army collects from shoppers at their stores.
Whatever happened to �good cheer and fortune to all�?
Some things you learn you have to question what value they actually serve.
I recently learned, from a detective MOS of some rank, that an office desk has the life expectancy of fifteen to twenty years.
Just exactly how did this person find out this information? How does this help me catch bad guys? Do I really need to know this? Those were some of the questions that went through my mind at the time.
I guess that just goes to underscore why some people are here �in the game� and others are here serving some other purpose. Or something like that. Not the kind of investigative information that�s going to help you out much, just something to walk away shaking your head about.
Someone once said to me �that�s why we carry handcuffs and they wear pocket protectors�.
Everyday you learn something new.
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
December 11, 1922 Ptl. Francis Mace, 73 Pct, Line of duty injury
December 12, 1966 Ptl Raul Yglesias, PA, Shot � off duty incident
December 13, 1932 Ptl Louis Wiendieck, Traffic B, Pursuit-injured LOD
December 14, 1932 Ptl George Gerhard, 20 Pct, Shot-robbery pursuit
December 14, 1961 Ptl Hugh Willoughby, 26 Pct, Shot- robbery, off duty
December 16, 1920 Lt Floyd Horton, 40 Pct, Shot- GLA arrest
December 16, 1981 PO Anthony Abruzzo Jr, 109 Pct, Shot- off duty robbery
December 20, 1925 Ptl Stephen McPhillips, 23 Pct, Electrocuted
December 20, 1936 Ptl James Smith, Traffic C, Auto accident on patrol
December 20, 1967 Ptl Robert Harris, HAPD, Shot- gun arrest
December 20, 1971 Ptl Carson Terry, HAPD-SI, Shot- off duty arrest
December 20, 1976 PO Carlos King, TPD-2, Shot- off duty robbery
I recently received this e-mail. If you can read this through its entirety without a tear in your eyes, it�s probably time for you to retire, because you�ve lost your heart and soul.
I am printing it here in memory of those who are not here to read it themselves.
Her hair was up in a pony tail,her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school,and she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her,that she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand,if she went to school alone.
But she was not afraid;she knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmatesof why he wasn't there today.
But still her mother worried,for her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,she tried to keep her daughter home.
But the little girl went to schooleager to tell them all.
About a dad she never seesa dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back,for everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher calleda student from the class.
To introduce their daddy,as seconds slowly passed.
At last the teacher called her name,every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching,for a man who wasn't there.
"Where's her daddy at?"she heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one,"another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back,she heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,too busy to waste his day.
"The words did not offend her,as she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,who told her to go on.
And with hands behind her back,slowly she began to speak.And out from the mouth of a child,came words incredibly unique.
"My Daddy couldn't be here,because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him,I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy,and how much he loves me so.
He loved to tell me storieshe taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses,and taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share fudge sundaes,and ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him.I'm not standing here alone.
"Cause my daddy's always with me,even though we are apart
I know because he told me,he'll forever be in my heart"
With that, her little hand reached up,and lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat,beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere here in the crowd of dads,her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,who was wise beyond her years.
For she stood up for the loveof a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,doing what was right.
And when she dropped her hand back down,staring straight into the crowd.
She finished with a voice so soft,but its message clear and loud.
"I love my daddy very much,he's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,but heaven's just too far
You see he was a policemanand died just this past year
When airplanes hit the towersand taught Americans to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes,it's like he never went away.
"And then she closed her eyes,and she saw him there that day.
And to her mothers amazement,she witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children,all starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them,who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,they saw him at her side.
"I know you're with me Daddy,"to the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it,for each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,by the love of her shining star.
And given the gift of believing,that heaven is never too far.
They say it takes a minute to find a specialperson, an hour to appreciate them,a day to love them, but then an entirelife to forget them.
In this holiday season of happiness and cheer, please take a moment to remember our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. In some way, however small, reach out and remember.
THE 16TH PRECINCT
As it was mentioned in the last posting, here is some information on the 16th Precinct, forwarded by Retired Det1 John Reilly.
The 16th Det. Sqd to which Ptl.(Det) Turner was assigned to was located at 345 West 47th Street, Manhattan.
This was an old station house opened in 1862 as the 22nd Pct. In 1929 it became the 18th Pct., until 1940 when the 18th Pct. moved to a new station house at 306 West 54th St. This 18th precinct is today�s Midtown North Precinct.
After the 18th Pct. moved out Traffic "D" took over the Station House, until Feb. 6, 1947, when the 16th Pct. was then activated at the old 47th Street Station House.
The 16th Pct. covered from 42nd St. to 52nd Street, from 5th Ave. to the Hudson River.
In 1968, the 16th Pct. was abolished and Safety Unit "B" occupied the building until 1969, then moved to 138 West 30th St. (old 14th Pct.)
Shortly after the building was demolished. Today there is a park and playground where the old station house stood.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
The good news is that New York City is the safest large city in America, and the world!
The good news is that crime is at its lowest in New York City in decades.
The good news is that the city has an excess of billions of dollars in its budget.
The good news is that businesses in the city are thriving, due in large part to the first two items above.
The good news is that tourism in the city is once again bringing big bucks into the city.
The bad news is, we�ll never see a decent pay raise that bring us up to the levels of our close neighbors in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Jersey City, Newark, Port Authority, �
WHO COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE?
Set the scenario.
Health Services calls the command to direct a detective to Lefrak for Random Drug Testing. Happens everyday of the week throughout the city.
Command gets the call, and seeing that the detective is due in that afternoon for a 4x1 tour, they call him at home to let him know. Perhaps he�d like to go direct to Lefrak on his way in? Certainly a reasonable assumption.
Getting the detective on the phone the command advises him of the order. �Just want to let you know you have to report to Lefrak for Random Drug Testing�.
The detective asks: �What day is the random testing for?�
This from a seasoned detective. (Ensign Pulver).
INTERESTING WEB SITE
The Department of Transportation (DOT) offers this Web site for consumers. It
provides detailed safety information about passenger vehicles, including crash test
data and rollover ratings, links to information on defects and recalls, and answers
to frequently asked questions.
http://safercar.gov
2004 CIA FACTBOOK: is now available and can be downloaded online.This site also has some nice sites/links available on
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
KOJAK RETURNS?
It was recently reported on the AP wires that Ving Rhames signed with USA Network to do a nine-episode weekly series playing the detective commander Kojak, which is scheduled to debut in March.
This could prove to be very interesting, indeed.
FROM THE FILE OF �EVERYDAY YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW�
Today I learned that Target Stores has this year forbidden the Salvation Army from setting up a Santa Claus with the traditional Christmastime kettle for donations in front of any of their stores.
Seems they don�t want to appear to have any affiliation with any specific charitable and/or denominational organization.
Talk about playing the politically correct game to the max! In a scene straight out of the �Miracle of 34th Street� movie, Wal-Mart Stores has agreed to match any donations the Salvation Army collects from shoppers at their stores.
Whatever happened to �good cheer and fortune to all�?
Some things you learn you have to question what value they actually serve.
I recently learned, from a detective MOS of some rank, that an office desk has the life expectancy of fifteen to twenty years.
Just exactly how did this person find out this information? How does this help me catch bad guys? Do I really need to know this? Those were some of the questions that went through my mind at the time.
I guess that just goes to underscore why some people are here �in the game� and others are here serving some other purpose. Or something like that. Not the kind of investigative information that�s going to help you out much, just something to walk away shaking your head about.
Someone once said to me �that�s why we carry handcuffs and they wear pocket protectors�.
Everyday you learn something new.
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
December 11, 1922 Ptl. Francis Mace, 73 Pct, Line of duty injury
December 12, 1966 Ptl Raul Yglesias, PA, Shot � off duty incident
December 13, 1932 Ptl Louis Wiendieck, Traffic B, Pursuit-injured LOD
December 14, 1932 Ptl George Gerhard, 20 Pct, Shot-robbery pursuit
December 14, 1961 Ptl Hugh Willoughby, 26 Pct, Shot- robbery, off duty
December 16, 1920 Lt Floyd Horton, 40 Pct, Shot- GLA arrest
December 16, 1981 PO Anthony Abruzzo Jr, 109 Pct, Shot- off duty robbery
December 20, 1925 Ptl Stephen McPhillips, 23 Pct, Electrocuted
December 20, 1936 Ptl James Smith, Traffic C, Auto accident on patrol
December 20, 1967 Ptl Robert Harris, HAPD, Shot- gun arrest
December 20, 1971 Ptl Carson Terry, HAPD-SI, Shot- off duty arrest
December 20, 1976 PO Carlos King, TPD-2, Shot- off duty robbery
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
BRIDGE PRECINCTS
On May 24, 1883, the first bridge crossing the East River was opened. At first it was known as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, later just as the Brooklyn Bridge.
When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened it had its own police force, 25 men under the command of a Captain. The policemen wore no uniform, they patrolled in civilian clothes with their shields pined on their breast.
One week after the Brooklyn Bridge was opened was Decoration Day (Memorial Day) May 31, 1883. On this holiday thousands of Brooklynites and Manhattanites were enjoying a stroll on the pedestrian walkway of the bridge. Suddenly a woman fell after she had lost her footing while descending a stairway. A bridge policeman in civilian clothes helped the woman and half-carried her to one side and down the rest of the stairway. Another woman who though that the woman was being molested screamed, someone else in the throng called out that the bridge was falling, the strollers now became a panic stricken mob fighting to get off the bridge. Before order was restored 12 people including a little boy were trampled to death, scores of other strollers were injured.
The next day, June 1, 1883, The New York Times was very critical of the Bridge Police Force and quoted the Commission of the City of Brooklyn Police as saying that the Bridge Police should come under the control of the regular police. On July 9, 1883, at a meeting of the Trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, counsel advised the board it only held the authority to appoint bridge policemen. So for the next fifteen years the Brooklyn Bridge police force was separate from both the Brooklyn and New York City police department.
The Brooklyn Bridge Police Force was increased in number to about 100 men, became uniformed and well trained. This all ended on Jan. 1, 1898, when Greater New York was formed and all the police forces in the city were brought into the New York City Police Department.
At first the Brooklyn Bridge was known as the 4th Precinct, later as other bridges were constructed over the East River, various other designations were used until 1929 when all the East Rive bridges became Traffic Precinct L. The bridge police were part of the Traffic Division and had responsibility for the control of traffic on the bridges and the approaches to the bridges.
(Thanks to Ret. Det1 John Reilly for this departmental historical info.)
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: JUNE 1956
What was going on around the department in June 1956?
A review of the department�s journal, SPRING 3100, is always a good way to take a look back and see �what was going on�.
Stephen P. Kennedy was the Police Commissioner, and James R. Kennedy was the First Deputy Commissoner. The Chief of Department was still known as the Chief Inspector (it was Thomas Nielson � not another Kennedy!).
The Journal-American Award was bestowed on a �Hero Detective�, Robert F. Turner of the 16th Squad. (Just where was the 16th Squad located, John Reilly?)
At the time a patrolman, Turner was assigned to the 30 Precinct when he spotted a man breaking into a parked auto. Attempting to stop him, the thief took off, with Turner in foot pursuit, when the thief turned on him with a gun. Aiming at the officer, the gun misfired, and the pursuit continued. Turner commandeered a passing car (sounds like he would have made a good Transit cop) and caught up to the fleeing felon; again turning on the officer and taking aim for a third time, but this time before he could pull the trigger the officer fired his own weapon killing the bandit. As a result of the episode, Turner was assigned to the Detective Division.
All in the Days Work entries include several other noted actions by gumshoes. Four teenagers in a stolen car were caught by Detectives Findlay and Augello of the 94 Squad after a bullet-punctuated chase through Greenpoint� Sgt Vincent Chisari, then of the 60 Pct, on his way to play golf decided to drive by the shop where his father worked because on the past six Friday�s workers had been held up for their paychecks. On this, the seventh Friday, his hunch proved correct; he spotted three men waiting in a nearby car, investigated, found all three to be armed and made the arrests. They were also in a stolen car. Sgt. Chisari was transferred to the Detective Division for his good actions� Two young bandits stuck up a hosiery shop, and Detective�s John Mullins and Joseph Begley of the Manhattan West Burglary Sqd grabbed them after a short pursuit� Fourteen detectives from Borough HQ Bronx sprung a trap for a quartet of kidnappers-robbers and grabbed them in the act as they tried to make off with a payroll and the bookkeeper�
Some Brooklyn East Detective Commander�s saw some action one Sunday morning. �Returning from early Mass, and passing a cabaret, Deputy Chief Inspector William Kimmins of Bklyn East Detectives, Lt. William Palmer of the 79 Squad and Acting Lt. Thomas McGuire of the 87 Squad became aware of a balky man being ejected from a cabaret�. They went to assist, identifying themselves, and the man left only to return with a paper bag �threatening to shoot the cabaret proprietor�. DCI Kimmins grappled with the perp, the man drew a meat cleaver and slashed him over the eye. Act. Lt. McGuire hit the man with his revolver and Lt. Palmer disarmed and subdued him. The Deputy Chief suffered ten stitches from his wounds. Another quiet Sunday morning in Brooklyn� While Brooklyn East sleuths were grappling with a cabaret smasher, over on the East Side of Manhattan Detective�s from Safe, Loft and Truck Squad followed and captured a man affectionately known as �Moishe Pickles� for a lower east side murder.
What I found very interesting was a small blurb that was included under a photo in a corner of the line organizations page. It was noted here that Governor Harriman had just signed a 40-hour work week bill, after the PBA�s long campaign for a 40-hour 5-day week. PBA President John Carton was pictured with the Governor. You would have thought this was entitled to a much larger mention than that.
In the Study Hall section, for MOS (actually, at that time they were referred to as MOF for Member of the Force, before it became politically incorrect to use the term Force as in Police Force) the derivation of the �124 Room� can be discovered. It is noted that the Rules & regulations number 124 states that �the Precinct Commander may assign a Patrolman to assist the desk officer if conditions require it�. That was the origin of the term �124 man� who worked out of the clerical office, which was known as the �124 Room�.
Remember, Everyday you Learn Something New!
INTERESTING WEB SITE: FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS
Thanks to Ret. Det Al Meller who wants to pass along this information on forensic investigations.
The January 2005 issue of Forensic Science Communications has been posted onthe FBI web site. Forensic Science Communications is a quarterly journalpublished by FBI Laboratory personnel. To link to the current issue, please click on:
www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/index.htm
YOUR ASSISTANCE IS REQUESTED: 10-13
We are asking for help to keep another cop killer in jail.
The family of PO Bobby Sorrentino, who was killed in the line of duty in 1980, is seeking help to ensure that one of his killers does not get out on parole.
PO Sorrentino was murdered in 1980. Of the four men sentenced for killing him, three have since died in prison, but the fourth, Russell Carrol, is having his parole hearing in February 2005, after serving the minimum part of his sentence.
There is an online petition readers can sign to help keep this cop killer in jail:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/5454.html.
You can also go to the NYPDangels website and get sample letters and addresses to send through conventional mail.
www.NYPDAngels.com
Please take a moment and help out!
BROOKLYN�S NOTORIOUS: THE LEAKING ALIBI
The alibi has always been essential to mob life. The day after Al Capen�es men pulled off the St. Valentine�s Day massacre, the bloodiest hit in mob history, Capone was quoted as saying �What do I know? I was in Florida�.
One favorite alibi was delivered by gangster Lucky Luciano, after the police asked him if he had anything to do with the slaying of Joe �The Boss� Masseria. It was a reasonable question since Luciano was dining with Joe when he was blown away.
Well, not exactly, claimed Lucky. �I was in the can taking a leak�, he told cops. �I always take a long leak�.
Luciano and Joe the Boss had been eating with Masseria at Nuova Villa Tammaro, at 2715 West 15 Street in Coney Island. At the time Masseria was the biggest mobster in the city, a bootlegger who drove a steel-plated bulletproof limo.
Joe needed all the protection he could get. In 1922, a gunman chased Joe into a flower shop at 82 Second Avenue and fired three shots, each one missing Joe as he tiptoed through the tulips. He emerged from the shooting with two holes in his straw hat (of course he was wearing a hat!) and a reputation for dodging bullets.
Luciano was not happy being Joe�s assistant, especially since he considered Masseria to be an idiot. He didn�t think it was right for Italian mobsters to mix with Jews or to bribe politicians, acts he considered to be �sleeping with the enemy�.
Luciano invited Joe for lunch at Nuova Villa Tammaro on April 15, 1931. The men ordered the rub-out special � fish and pasta � and drank Chianti. They played cards after the meal, while the restaurant�s owner decided it was time to take a walk.
This should be a tell-tale sign. If you�re ever in an Italian restaurant when the owner and staff suddenly seem to disappear, it�s probably not a good thing!
At 3:30 pm, Lucky said he had to go to the bathroom. In the next instant four gunman armed with machine guns appeared � Joe Adonis, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Bugsy Siegel. They began firing at Joe�s back. Joe the Boss was left, according to a local newspaper, �with five bullets in his back and an ace of diamonds in his hand�.
All this while Luciano was taking a long leak.
Nuova Villa Tammaro is no longer a restaurant, but the original exterior has been preserved on the modern-day factory that now occupies the site.
THE POLICE CAMP
I have mentioned previously on this site about the Police Recreation Centre, commonly known as the Police Camp, that this department operated upstate in Tannersville, NY for its members.
Providing a very reasonably priced vacation in the mountains, it was filled with department members � and their family � comprising all ranks. If you grew up in the 60�s or early 70�s, and you came from an NYPD family, you probably spent at least one week there. Others of us regularly spent a week � or two � each summer.
You�d meet people you hadn�t seen for a year, spend a week in the country, and probably not see them again for another year. But it filled many people with extremely fond memories. For example, I recall meeting Frank Bolz (noted contributor to this site, and one of the founders of the Hostage Negotiation Team) when I was a very young tyke and he was a Sergeant in the 79 Precinct � and the Steuben president. I recall spending a week covering every piece of space we could find with a Steuben sticker or stamp!
I am in the process of writing some more on the Police Camp, and am seeking contributions from any readers of this site who can pass on their memories.
I will never forget the feeling of turning into the road that led to the hotel, off the country road, and seeing the large statue that graced the entrance � the very same statue of the policeman holding a flag with his arm around the young boy that is now at the entrance to 1PP. I will never listen to the song �Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer�� without thinking about the Police Camp � it seems it was always playing on the hotel�s loudspeaker, and was an indication that summer was here, you were at the Police Camp. I was too young to understand, but learned later on, why people around always seemed to chuckle or guffaw when an announcement would come over the loudspeaker asking �Sidney Cooper, please come to the lobby for a phone call.� Johnny K and Timmy Duffy would have had a ball here!
REMEMBER� TO CONTACT THE MINISTER OF INVESTIGATION
You can send me an e-mail at:
Ltjac77@yahoo.com
YET ANOTHER DETECTIVE TIP�
Don�t Ever Assume.
Just because the person you are looking for is Jamaican, and you hear he is out of the country, don�t assume he went to Jamaica. He may like the beaches of Puerto Rico better (yes, people consider Puerto Rico �out of the country�). And when they say he went �upstate�, try to get a better idea of what that means. Upstate to some may mean Maine.
On May 24, 1883, the first bridge crossing the East River was opened. At first it was known as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, later just as the Brooklyn Bridge.
When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened it had its own police force, 25 men under the command of a Captain. The policemen wore no uniform, they patrolled in civilian clothes with their shields pined on their breast.
One week after the Brooklyn Bridge was opened was Decoration Day (Memorial Day) May 31, 1883. On this holiday thousands of Brooklynites and Manhattanites were enjoying a stroll on the pedestrian walkway of the bridge. Suddenly a woman fell after she had lost her footing while descending a stairway. A bridge policeman in civilian clothes helped the woman and half-carried her to one side and down the rest of the stairway. Another woman who though that the woman was being molested screamed, someone else in the throng called out that the bridge was falling, the strollers now became a panic stricken mob fighting to get off the bridge. Before order was restored 12 people including a little boy were trampled to death, scores of other strollers were injured.
The next day, June 1, 1883, The New York Times was very critical of the Bridge Police Force and quoted the Commission of the City of Brooklyn Police as saying that the Bridge Police should come under the control of the regular police. On July 9, 1883, at a meeting of the Trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, counsel advised the board it only held the authority to appoint bridge policemen. So for the next fifteen years the Brooklyn Bridge police force was separate from both the Brooklyn and New York City police department.
The Brooklyn Bridge Police Force was increased in number to about 100 men, became uniformed and well trained. This all ended on Jan. 1, 1898, when Greater New York was formed and all the police forces in the city were brought into the New York City Police Department.
At first the Brooklyn Bridge was known as the 4th Precinct, later as other bridges were constructed over the East River, various other designations were used until 1929 when all the East Rive bridges became Traffic Precinct L. The bridge police were part of the Traffic Division and had responsibility for the control of traffic on the bridges and the approaches to the bridges.
(Thanks to Ret. Det1 John Reilly for this departmental historical info.)
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: JUNE 1956
What was going on around the department in June 1956?
A review of the department�s journal, SPRING 3100, is always a good way to take a look back and see �what was going on�.
Stephen P. Kennedy was the Police Commissioner, and James R. Kennedy was the First Deputy Commissoner. The Chief of Department was still known as the Chief Inspector (it was Thomas Nielson � not another Kennedy!).
The Journal-American Award was bestowed on a �Hero Detective�, Robert F. Turner of the 16th Squad. (Just where was the 16th Squad located, John Reilly?)
At the time a patrolman, Turner was assigned to the 30 Precinct when he spotted a man breaking into a parked auto. Attempting to stop him, the thief took off, with Turner in foot pursuit, when the thief turned on him with a gun. Aiming at the officer, the gun misfired, and the pursuit continued. Turner commandeered a passing car (sounds like he would have made a good Transit cop) and caught up to the fleeing felon; again turning on the officer and taking aim for a third time, but this time before he could pull the trigger the officer fired his own weapon killing the bandit. As a result of the episode, Turner was assigned to the Detective Division.
All in the Days Work entries include several other noted actions by gumshoes. Four teenagers in a stolen car were caught by Detectives Findlay and Augello of the 94 Squad after a bullet-punctuated chase through Greenpoint� Sgt Vincent Chisari, then of the 60 Pct, on his way to play golf decided to drive by the shop where his father worked because on the past six Friday�s workers had been held up for their paychecks. On this, the seventh Friday, his hunch proved correct; he spotted three men waiting in a nearby car, investigated, found all three to be armed and made the arrests. They were also in a stolen car. Sgt. Chisari was transferred to the Detective Division for his good actions� Two young bandits stuck up a hosiery shop, and Detective�s John Mullins and Joseph Begley of the Manhattan West Burglary Sqd grabbed them after a short pursuit� Fourteen detectives from Borough HQ Bronx sprung a trap for a quartet of kidnappers-robbers and grabbed them in the act as they tried to make off with a payroll and the bookkeeper�
Some Brooklyn East Detective Commander�s saw some action one Sunday morning. �Returning from early Mass, and passing a cabaret, Deputy Chief Inspector William Kimmins of Bklyn East Detectives, Lt. William Palmer of the 79 Squad and Acting Lt. Thomas McGuire of the 87 Squad became aware of a balky man being ejected from a cabaret�. They went to assist, identifying themselves, and the man left only to return with a paper bag �threatening to shoot the cabaret proprietor�. DCI Kimmins grappled with the perp, the man drew a meat cleaver and slashed him over the eye. Act. Lt. McGuire hit the man with his revolver and Lt. Palmer disarmed and subdued him. The Deputy Chief suffered ten stitches from his wounds. Another quiet Sunday morning in Brooklyn� While Brooklyn East sleuths were grappling with a cabaret smasher, over on the East Side of Manhattan Detective�s from Safe, Loft and Truck Squad followed and captured a man affectionately known as �Moishe Pickles� for a lower east side murder.
What I found very interesting was a small blurb that was included under a photo in a corner of the line organizations page. It was noted here that Governor Harriman had just signed a 40-hour work week bill, after the PBA�s long campaign for a 40-hour 5-day week. PBA President John Carton was pictured with the Governor. You would have thought this was entitled to a much larger mention than that.
In the Study Hall section, for MOS (actually, at that time they were referred to as MOF for Member of the Force, before it became politically incorrect to use the term Force as in Police Force) the derivation of the �124 Room� can be discovered. It is noted that the Rules & regulations number 124 states that �the Precinct Commander may assign a Patrolman to assist the desk officer if conditions require it�. That was the origin of the term �124 man� who worked out of the clerical office, which was known as the �124 Room�.
Remember, Everyday you Learn Something New!
INTERESTING WEB SITE: FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS
Thanks to Ret. Det Al Meller who wants to pass along this information on forensic investigations.
The January 2005 issue of Forensic Science Communications has been posted onthe FBI web site. Forensic Science Communications is a quarterly journalpublished by FBI Laboratory personnel. To link to the current issue, please click on:
www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/index.htm
YOUR ASSISTANCE IS REQUESTED: 10-13
We are asking for help to keep another cop killer in jail.
The family of PO Bobby Sorrentino, who was killed in the line of duty in 1980, is seeking help to ensure that one of his killers does not get out on parole.
PO Sorrentino was murdered in 1980. Of the four men sentenced for killing him, three have since died in prison, but the fourth, Russell Carrol, is having his parole hearing in February 2005, after serving the minimum part of his sentence.
There is an online petition readers can sign to help keep this cop killer in jail:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/5454.html.
You can also go to the NYPDangels website and get sample letters and addresses to send through conventional mail.
www.NYPDAngels.com
Please take a moment and help out!
BROOKLYN�S NOTORIOUS: THE LEAKING ALIBI
The alibi has always been essential to mob life. The day after Al Capen�es men pulled off the St. Valentine�s Day massacre, the bloodiest hit in mob history, Capone was quoted as saying �What do I know? I was in Florida�.
One favorite alibi was delivered by gangster Lucky Luciano, after the police asked him if he had anything to do with the slaying of Joe �The Boss� Masseria. It was a reasonable question since Luciano was dining with Joe when he was blown away.
Well, not exactly, claimed Lucky. �I was in the can taking a leak�, he told cops. �I always take a long leak�.
Luciano and Joe the Boss had been eating with Masseria at Nuova Villa Tammaro, at 2715 West 15 Street in Coney Island. At the time Masseria was the biggest mobster in the city, a bootlegger who drove a steel-plated bulletproof limo.
Joe needed all the protection he could get. In 1922, a gunman chased Joe into a flower shop at 82 Second Avenue and fired three shots, each one missing Joe as he tiptoed through the tulips. He emerged from the shooting with two holes in his straw hat (of course he was wearing a hat!) and a reputation for dodging bullets.
Luciano was not happy being Joe�s assistant, especially since he considered Masseria to be an idiot. He didn�t think it was right for Italian mobsters to mix with Jews or to bribe politicians, acts he considered to be �sleeping with the enemy�.
Luciano invited Joe for lunch at Nuova Villa Tammaro on April 15, 1931. The men ordered the rub-out special � fish and pasta � and drank Chianti. They played cards after the meal, while the restaurant�s owner decided it was time to take a walk.
This should be a tell-tale sign. If you�re ever in an Italian restaurant when the owner and staff suddenly seem to disappear, it�s probably not a good thing!
At 3:30 pm, Lucky said he had to go to the bathroom. In the next instant four gunman armed with machine guns appeared � Joe Adonis, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Bugsy Siegel. They began firing at Joe�s back. Joe the Boss was left, according to a local newspaper, �with five bullets in his back and an ace of diamonds in his hand�.
All this while Luciano was taking a long leak.
Nuova Villa Tammaro is no longer a restaurant, but the original exterior has been preserved on the modern-day factory that now occupies the site.
THE POLICE CAMP
I have mentioned previously on this site about the Police Recreation Centre, commonly known as the Police Camp, that this department operated upstate in Tannersville, NY for its members.
Providing a very reasonably priced vacation in the mountains, it was filled with department members � and their family � comprising all ranks. If you grew up in the 60�s or early 70�s, and you came from an NYPD family, you probably spent at least one week there. Others of us regularly spent a week � or two � each summer.
You�d meet people you hadn�t seen for a year, spend a week in the country, and probably not see them again for another year. But it filled many people with extremely fond memories. For example, I recall meeting Frank Bolz (noted contributor to this site, and one of the founders of the Hostage Negotiation Team) when I was a very young tyke and he was a Sergeant in the 79 Precinct � and the Steuben president. I recall spending a week covering every piece of space we could find with a Steuben sticker or stamp!
I am in the process of writing some more on the Police Camp, and am seeking contributions from any readers of this site who can pass on their memories.
I will never forget the feeling of turning into the road that led to the hotel, off the country road, and seeing the large statue that graced the entrance � the very same statue of the policeman holding a flag with his arm around the young boy that is now at the entrance to 1PP. I will never listen to the song �Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer�� without thinking about the Police Camp � it seems it was always playing on the hotel�s loudspeaker, and was an indication that summer was here, you were at the Police Camp. I was too young to understand, but learned later on, why people around always seemed to chuckle or guffaw when an announcement would come over the loudspeaker asking �Sidney Cooper, please come to the lobby for a phone call.� Johnny K and Timmy Duffy would have had a ball here!
REMEMBER� TO CONTACT THE MINISTER OF INVESTIGATION
You can send me an e-mail at:
Ltjac77@yahoo.com
YET ANOTHER DETECTIVE TIP�
Don�t Ever Assume.
Just because the person you are looking for is Jamaican, and you hear he is out of the country, don�t assume he went to Jamaica. He may like the beaches of Puerto Rico better (yes, people consider Puerto Rico �out of the country�). And when they say he went �upstate�, try to get a better idea of what that means. Upstate to some may mean Maine.
Monday, December 06, 2004
EVERYDAY YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW
These were the words that were spoken by a well-respected Sergeant I worked for in the Transit Robbery Squad. Freddie Crockett used to speak these words several times a week, maybe even once a day. �Everyday you learn something new�.
The first time I heard him say it, it must have been one day in 1988, and perhaps that was my learning lesson of the day. I�ve found myself thinking about these words lately. What do you really learn new everyday?
I recall the day I learned that a sleeping prisoner is most likely a guilty prisoner. Early on in my career this had been brought to my attention. You make a collar, put the prisoner in the cell, and leave him alone for a while. The sleep of the guilty, while not something you bring into court, is probably as useful as a polygraph. What innocent person would fall asleep on a cell bench? One day, reading a NY TIMES story on a Brooklyn South Homicide team, I actually found out that there was a scientific basis for this. The release of certain enzymes in the body of a person who has been hiding, or fleeing, and now can take a �relaxed� state, will cause the person to fall asleep. The sleep of the guilty is actually based on a true biological event. You learn something new everyday.
As a young detective I learned that you can�t underestimate the criminal mind. I recall conducting a lineup for an armed robbery with a perp that was incarcerated at Rikers, and was released on a Take-Out order for the lineup. Working out of the Robbery Squad at Gold Street, we went around the corner to the projects looking for �fillers�. At that time we in Transit Robbery were paying $10 a filler while the other PD detectives were paying $5, so our unmarked van was a calling card for lineup fillers. At the completion of the lineup one of the fillers asked if he could give the subject of the lineup a pack of cigarettes before his return to Rikers. Why not? The fillers were paid, and left out of the building, when Tommy McGurl, one of the best detectives I�ve ever worked with, heard about the cigarette request. Taking the pack from my hand, before giving it over to the perp, he opened it up, removed the cellophane, and found a razor blade secreted inside. We made a mad dash for the street, grabbed the unmarked van, and found the fillers walking back to the projects. �How about another lineup� brought them all running for the van and an expected additional $10 payment. �Only one of you this time�, as we grabbed the offending contraband promoter. One ID in a robbery lineup; one pickup arrest for Promoting Prison Contraband. Everyday you learn something new.
Freddie Crockett was a true gentleman, and an Irishman through and through. He was the bandmaster for the Transit Pipes and Drums, and for some internal squabble made it clear that it was the Transit Police Pipes and Drums and NOT the Emerald Society�s. Anyway, Freddie put his heart and soul into this band, making practice plans, scheduling engagements, and working to recruit new members. He played second-whip in the Robbery Squad, to Tommy Burke who had commanded the squad himself for some time. Freddie and Tommy had been detectives together, but it was Tommy�s squad. Which was just fine for Freddie; he had the band to run. I never met anyone who knew more people than Freddie. He was on a first name basis with Deputy Mayors, Commissioners, and countless number of politicians. In a quiet way he got things done. One day I learned that he didn�t always work behind the scenes.
Freddie earned a lot of points as a cop in many peoples minds one night, out on a stakeout on Fulton Street in the 75. Subway token booths along the �J� line had been the target of a pattern of armed robberies one summer. I had just returned from a weeks vacation when I learned that a stakeout of booths along Fulton Street on the elevated J line had been started. Uniformed Pos were strategically fixed, leaving 3 booths visibly uncovered, but staked out by a team of two detectives in the station and two backups in a car in the street below. I drew the Cleveland Street station with my partner Jerry Lyons; Sergeant Freddie Crockett and Detective Glenn Davidson were our backups in the street. My first night back from vacation, they had been conducting these stakeouts for six days straight already without any nibbles. Sure enough, right at the witching hour, our booth was getting robbed. Gun in the window, door opened, money taken, and a peck on the cheek of the female clerk by the gun toting thief before fleeing the station. Jerry and I exited, confronted the perps on the street stairs, and shots were fired. One of the perps dropped there, the second continued running. Many more shots rung out on the street. It was Freddie and Glenn, coming to our aid. Freddie �let a couple of rounds go�; turns out he emptied his revolver coming to the aid of �his boys�. �I had to watch out for my boys� is what I believe he said. An excellent interview by Tommy McGurl, a perp found at Jamaica Hospital (the kissing thief) and two more collars from the scene, and the pattern thiefs went away for a few years. Freddie Crockett earned his stripes that night. He wasn�t all pipe band and banter, Freddie was a cop�s cop. You learn something new everyday.
After the merger of Transit with NYPD Freddie moved to a Brooklyn South squad as first the second-whip, later commanding the 62 Squad, and eventually finishing his career in the Intelligence Division with the Gang Squad. He�s happily retired, spending his time with this family. He travels, to Ireland of course, and continues active involvement with the FOP�s Pipe and Drum band.
I love Freddie Crockett. He�s absolutely right; You learn something new everyday. Sometimes it�s something big, sometimes something trivial. But learn all the same.
INTERESTING WEB SITE: NYPD EMERALDS
Take a moment and check out the completely re-done NYPD Emerald�s web site.
The web master, Tom Sullivan, is a former Emerald Society Board Officer and a Retired Sergeant from ESS6, who has put together an excellent site for �everything emerald�. Loaded with photos and stories about the Society. Check it out!
www.nypdemeralds.com
MORE ON THE NINTH
It�s been brought to my attention that you can't mention the 9th pct or the 9th squad without mentioning "Cal's", the bar just to the west of the building.
This is one of the few bars that required that you step down 5 steps to get to the front door. A great Detective once said that you should only drink in bars that had to throw you up the stairs when they threw you out. That way it would hurt less, I guess.
INTERESTING WEB SITE
Police Badge Network � Collection of police memorabilia.
http://www.badgesource.com/pbn/bunko.htm
THE REAL MEANING OF INTELLIGENCE
Nothing takes the place of a detective�s memory when it comes to a source for �Intelligence�.
No database can perform the task. No specialized unit performs the task. The memory of a detective, who passes it on, is irreplaceable.
Think about it. How many times has a case taken a turn based on an inquiry from a detective who read an article in a newspaper? Or who heard about an incident from an adjoining command?
I can remember taking a phone call from a retired detective who saw a sketch in a newspaper that reminded him of a perp from a similar incident he arrested several years earlier. Accurate memory! It resulted in an arrest!
I guess the lesson to learn here is twofold. One, if you happen to get a �hunch� or think something upon hearing of an incident, DON�T assume it�s already being looked at. Make a phone call, and pass it on.
And, more importantly, if you happen to take that phone call, DON�T treat the caller as if he/she is some kind of �crackpot old retired dude with nothing better to do�. Chances are it�s better than any intelligence you�ve gotten from the so-called intelligence gathering people!
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
December 2, 1873 Ptl Edward Burns, 8Pct, Arrest � assaulted
December 2, 1994 PO Raymond Cannon Jr, 69 Pct, Shot-robbery
December 3, 1922 Ptl John Kennedy, 123 Pct, LOD injury
December 3, 1934 Ptl John Monahan, 14Div, Shot-arrest
December 3, 1954 Ptl Joseph Norden, 105 Pct, Shot by EDP
December 3, 1973 PO Vincent Connolly, Bomb Sq, Auto accident
December 4, 1923 Ptl Alfred Van Clieff, 63 Pct, Motorcycle accident
December 5, 1876 Ptl Patrick McKeon, BklynCentOffice Dets, Fire Rescue
December 6, 1903 Ptl Frank Redican, 1 Pct, Fire Rescue
December 6, 1941 Ptl Thomas Casey, 17 Pct, Shot-robbery pursuit
December 7, 1937 Ptl Edward Lynch, 20 Pct, Shot-burglary in progress
December 7, 1971 Det Harold Marshall, HAPD-Bklyn, Shot-off duty arrest
December 8, 1924 Ptl Joseph Pelosi, 60 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
December 8, 1932 Ptl Michael Moroso, 23 Pct, Shot by sniper
December 8, 1942 Det Joseph Miccio, 78 Sq, Shot-investigation
December 8, 1946 Ptl Edward McAuliff, 18 Sqd, LOD injury
December 9, 1932 Ptl John Grattan, McyUnit, motorcycle accident
December 10, 1929 Ptl Philip Morrissey, 85 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
These were the words that were spoken by a well-respected Sergeant I worked for in the Transit Robbery Squad. Freddie Crockett used to speak these words several times a week, maybe even once a day. �Everyday you learn something new�.
The first time I heard him say it, it must have been one day in 1988, and perhaps that was my learning lesson of the day. I�ve found myself thinking about these words lately. What do you really learn new everyday?
I recall the day I learned that a sleeping prisoner is most likely a guilty prisoner. Early on in my career this had been brought to my attention. You make a collar, put the prisoner in the cell, and leave him alone for a while. The sleep of the guilty, while not something you bring into court, is probably as useful as a polygraph. What innocent person would fall asleep on a cell bench? One day, reading a NY TIMES story on a Brooklyn South Homicide team, I actually found out that there was a scientific basis for this. The release of certain enzymes in the body of a person who has been hiding, or fleeing, and now can take a �relaxed� state, will cause the person to fall asleep. The sleep of the guilty is actually based on a true biological event. You learn something new everyday.
As a young detective I learned that you can�t underestimate the criminal mind. I recall conducting a lineup for an armed robbery with a perp that was incarcerated at Rikers, and was released on a Take-Out order for the lineup. Working out of the Robbery Squad at Gold Street, we went around the corner to the projects looking for �fillers�. At that time we in Transit Robbery were paying $10 a filler while the other PD detectives were paying $5, so our unmarked van was a calling card for lineup fillers. At the completion of the lineup one of the fillers asked if he could give the subject of the lineup a pack of cigarettes before his return to Rikers. Why not? The fillers were paid, and left out of the building, when Tommy McGurl, one of the best detectives I�ve ever worked with, heard about the cigarette request. Taking the pack from my hand, before giving it over to the perp, he opened it up, removed the cellophane, and found a razor blade secreted inside. We made a mad dash for the street, grabbed the unmarked van, and found the fillers walking back to the projects. �How about another lineup� brought them all running for the van and an expected additional $10 payment. �Only one of you this time�, as we grabbed the offending contraband promoter. One ID in a robbery lineup; one pickup arrest for Promoting Prison Contraband. Everyday you learn something new.
Freddie Crockett was a true gentleman, and an Irishman through and through. He was the bandmaster for the Transit Pipes and Drums, and for some internal squabble made it clear that it was the Transit Police Pipes and Drums and NOT the Emerald Society�s. Anyway, Freddie put his heart and soul into this band, making practice plans, scheduling engagements, and working to recruit new members. He played second-whip in the Robbery Squad, to Tommy Burke who had commanded the squad himself for some time. Freddie and Tommy had been detectives together, but it was Tommy�s squad. Which was just fine for Freddie; he had the band to run. I never met anyone who knew more people than Freddie. He was on a first name basis with Deputy Mayors, Commissioners, and countless number of politicians. In a quiet way he got things done. One day I learned that he didn�t always work behind the scenes.
Freddie earned a lot of points as a cop in many peoples minds one night, out on a stakeout on Fulton Street in the 75. Subway token booths along the �J� line had been the target of a pattern of armed robberies one summer. I had just returned from a weeks vacation when I learned that a stakeout of booths along Fulton Street on the elevated J line had been started. Uniformed Pos were strategically fixed, leaving 3 booths visibly uncovered, but staked out by a team of two detectives in the station and two backups in a car in the street below. I drew the Cleveland Street station with my partner Jerry Lyons; Sergeant Freddie Crockett and Detective Glenn Davidson were our backups in the street. My first night back from vacation, they had been conducting these stakeouts for six days straight already without any nibbles. Sure enough, right at the witching hour, our booth was getting robbed. Gun in the window, door opened, money taken, and a peck on the cheek of the female clerk by the gun toting thief before fleeing the station. Jerry and I exited, confronted the perps on the street stairs, and shots were fired. One of the perps dropped there, the second continued running. Many more shots rung out on the street. It was Freddie and Glenn, coming to our aid. Freddie �let a couple of rounds go�; turns out he emptied his revolver coming to the aid of �his boys�. �I had to watch out for my boys� is what I believe he said. An excellent interview by Tommy McGurl, a perp found at Jamaica Hospital (the kissing thief) and two more collars from the scene, and the pattern thiefs went away for a few years. Freddie Crockett earned his stripes that night. He wasn�t all pipe band and banter, Freddie was a cop�s cop. You learn something new everyday.
After the merger of Transit with NYPD Freddie moved to a Brooklyn South squad as first the second-whip, later commanding the 62 Squad, and eventually finishing his career in the Intelligence Division with the Gang Squad. He�s happily retired, spending his time with this family. He travels, to Ireland of course, and continues active involvement with the FOP�s Pipe and Drum band.
I love Freddie Crockett. He�s absolutely right; You learn something new everyday. Sometimes it�s something big, sometimes something trivial. But learn all the same.
INTERESTING WEB SITE: NYPD EMERALDS
Take a moment and check out the completely re-done NYPD Emerald�s web site.
The web master, Tom Sullivan, is a former Emerald Society Board Officer and a Retired Sergeant from ESS6, who has put together an excellent site for �everything emerald�. Loaded with photos and stories about the Society. Check it out!
www.nypdemeralds.com
MORE ON THE NINTH
It�s been brought to my attention that you can't mention the 9th pct or the 9th squad without mentioning "Cal's", the bar just to the west of the building.
This is one of the few bars that required that you step down 5 steps to get to the front door. A great Detective once said that you should only drink in bars that had to throw you up the stairs when they threw you out. That way it would hurt less, I guess.
INTERESTING WEB SITE
Police Badge Network � Collection of police memorabilia.
http://www.badgesource.com/pbn/bunko.htm
THE REAL MEANING OF INTELLIGENCE
Nothing takes the place of a detective�s memory when it comes to a source for �Intelligence�.
No database can perform the task. No specialized unit performs the task. The memory of a detective, who passes it on, is irreplaceable.
Think about it. How many times has a case taken a turn based on an inquiry from a detective who read an article in a newspaper? Or who heard about an incident from an adjoining command?
I can remember taking a phone call from a retired detective who saw a sketch in a newspaper that reminded him of a perp from a similar incident he arrested several years earlier. Accurate memory! It resulted in an arrest!
I guess the lesson to learn here is twofold. One, if you happen to get a �hunch� or think something upon hearing of an incident, DON�T assume it�s already being looked at. Make a phone call, and pass it on.
And, more importantly, if you happen to take that phone call, DON�T treat the caller as if he/she is some kind of �crackpot old retired dude with nothing better to do�. Chances are it�s better than any intelligence you�ve gotten from the so-called intelligence gathering people!
�LEST WE FORGET�� THE NYPD MEMORIAL
December 2, 1873 Ptl Edward Burns, 8Pct, Arrest � assaulted
December 2, 1994 PO Raymond Cannon Jr, 69 Pct, Shot-robbery
December 3, 1922 Ptl John Kennedy, 123 Pct, LOD injury
December 3, 1934 Ptl John Monahan, 14Div, Shot-arrest
December 3, 1954 Ptl Joseph Norden, 105 Pct, Shot by EDP
December 3, 1973 PO Vincent Connolly, Bomb Sq, Auto accident
December 4, 1923 Ptl Alfred Van Clieff, 63 Pct, Motorcycle accident
December 5, 1876 Ptl Patrick McKeon, BklynCentOffice Dets, Fire Rescue
December 6, 1903 Ptl Frank Redican, 1 Pct, Fire Rescue
December 6, 1941 Ptl Thomas Casey, 17 Pct, Shot-robbery pursuit
December 7, 1937 Ptl Edward Lynch, 20 Pct, Shot-burglary in progress
December 7, 1971 Det Harold Marshall, HAPD-Bklyn, Shot-off duty arrest
December 8, 1924 Ptl Joseph Pelosi, 60 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
December 8, 1932 Ptl Michael Moroso, 23 Pct, Shot by sniper
December 8, 1942 Det Joseph Miccio, 78 Sq, Shot-investigation
December 8, 1946 Ptl Edward McAuliff, 18 Sqd, LOD injury
December 9, 1932 Ptl John Grattan, McyUnit, motorcycle accident
December 10, 1929 Ptl Philip Morrissey, 85 Pct, Auto accident on patrol
