Authors: Patrick Abbruzzi
Charlie didn’t know what to think but, more importantly, he didn’t know wha
t
to do. He decided just to rid his mind of it for now and dress for work. As he did, he found himself hoping the night would be busy or that the lieutenant would have mor
e
stories to tell.
He stood roll call and soon discovered that the lieutenant had to g
o
out immediately. There had been a hostage situation in sector K durin
g
the 4X12 tour and the lieutenant had to relieve the Platoon Commander
,
who was still at the scene and tying up loose ends, but who also had t
o
get back to the station house to make his report. Those loose ends sometimes took hours, especially when the Hostage Negotiating Team had bee
n
called in.
The lieutenant and Charlie drove over to an apartmen
t
building on Bard Avenue. When they arrived they found the hostag
e
team already on the scene and making good progress. Lt. A. conferre
d
with the 4X12 ESU Sergeant and returned back to Charlie, who was waitin
g
in the RMP.
“Well, hopefully this will be wrapped up within an hour or so. Why don’t you go and get us some coffee? Also, if you could, get me two packs of m
y
cigarettes,” said Lt. A.
The boss explained that they were dealing with an emotionally disturbed patient wh
o
apparently had stopped taking his medication and had his mother locked u
p
with him in his room. There had been no weapons involved so it looked a
s
if it would be over in an hour or two.
Charlie left the Lieutenant with some of the guys from Truck 1 of the ESU unit. The Lieutenant had worked with some of them, including the ESU Sergeant before the Sergeant had been promoted to ESU, so he knew he didn’t have to worry about Lt. A. while he was there. He had been on the job long enough an
d
practically knew someone in every command in Staten Island, downtow
n
Manhattan and most details in headquarters.
The donut shop on Victory Boulevard was only a hop, skip and a jump from Bard Avenue and Charlie made it there in less than five minutes. He parked the RMP directly in front of the shop and entered.
Terry was bus
y
serving a customer so he waited patiently until she was finished. When she was, she walked over to Charlie with a serious look o
n
her face and not a smile. It was almost as if she knew she had don
e
something wrong.
Charlie silently handed her the note. He waited for he
r
to say something but she did not. Finally he spoke and asked what the note meant. He knew it was neither the time nor the place for suc
h
a question, but he had to get it off of his chest and le
t
Terry know that it bothered him. She read the note, acknowledging he
r
own words, and meekly smiled at him while remaining silent.
“Look, I know we really can’t speak here but we are going to have t
o
talk, unless you tell me now that you don’t want to see me anymore,” h
e
said quietly.
“Charlie, whatever gave you that idea? You know how I feel about you. Can’t you stop by tomorrow morning? I promise you that we will just tal
k
and straighten this out, okay?” she asked.
He agreed and explained that he had to get back to the hostage scene but promised he would come by early.
He knew he wasn’t going to lie about a fake collar to Annette this time. H
e
would use the hostage scene as an excuse because it would make the local paper for sure. He drove back to the scene but stopped a
t
a local Bodega for the Lieutenant’s cigarettes.
When he arrived back at the scene on Bard Avenue he joined the Lieutenant
,
who was bullshitting with the men from the ESU squad. They had successfully removed the mother and the emotionally disturbed son withou
t
harm to either one.
Fifteen
The next time he checked his watch, it was only 2:00 A.M. and they had six hours of the tour left. Charlie didn’t want to start thinking about Terry so he asked the Lieutenan
t
about his time in the 120
th
.
“Lou, how long did it take you to get a steady seat in a sector after yo
u
came to the 120
th
?
”
“Well, I told you I was a footman in the 2
nd
squad and that I wanted a steady seat and partner more than anything,” said the boss.
Charlie nodded his head affirmatively as the boss began to tell him how he got his first sector assignment.
“I wanted a seat so bad I could taste it. I actually had dream
s
about being a cop in a radio car. Those were the days of Adam Twelve wit
h
Martin Milner. You’re probably too young to remember it, but it was a sho
w
about two good cops on patrol in Los Angeles. Their car number was Adam Twelve. I watched it every week and yearned to be one of them. Georg
e
Maharisplayed his partner and they got into some hairy situation
s
but always managed to get out of them unscathed. Then again, this
was
television,” explained the Lieutenant with a smile.
John had been in the 1
st
precinct for almost two years before he wa
s
transferred to the 120
th
. He had been in the 120
th
about the same amount of tim
e
when he decided it was his turn to get a seat. He was tired of filling in as
a
utility man wherever he was needed and he realized he had to get hi
s
summons and arrest activity up. This was when he decided to get to know the roll call man.
The position of roll call ma
n
was like God in the precinct of years ago. When John was in the 120
th
, the roll call man was Tom Holley.
Tom was a tough cop who had done his time in the street. As the roll call man, he decided who walked, wh
o
flew to details and who got the seats in the sectors.
Years before, Tom had been jumped by three perpetrators while walkin
g
his post on Richmond Avenue down by Richmond Terrace. Tom shot one of them, killing him instantly, and although the other two ran from th
e
scene, they were later apprehended and arrested. Not long afterward, one was found hanging i
n
his cell on Riker’s Island, a correctional facility, while the other die
d
when he either tripped or stumbled down a stairway in the Court Hous
e
on Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. It never did pay to hurt a cop.
John knew that staying friendly with his roll call man meant more tha
n
saying hello and goodbye. He always made it a habit of bringing Tom and his assistants a piece of cake or a dozen donuts if he was working da
y
tours, and he also tried to get into the precinct around lunch time so he could deliver a six pack of Schlitz beer to Tom. When he did this, John would neve
r
make an issue of it. He would simply walk into the office, deposi
t
the six pack into the refrigerator, and walk out without sayin
g
a word. They knew he was there but it was an unwritten law not to flaun
t
gifts.
Sometimes John got a foot post with a vegetable stand. When he did, he would brin
g
in all the makings of a nice salad, which the crew went wild over. Other times John would stop at Kipp’sBakery on Victory Boulevard and pick u
p
a loaf of French bread or pumpernickel to go with the salad.
The only time a seat opened up was when the cop who held it died, was transferred, retired or got promoted. John was patient while he waited.
Frank Brownell and Dusty Smullwere partners in Sector Eddie, which was the Stapleton area. John had worked with both of them when one was out sick or had bee
n
assigned to court.
The boundaries of Sector Eddie began at Bay Street and Water Street, ran along Bay Street southward t
o
Vanderbilt Avenue, went west up Vanderbilt to Van Duzer Street, ran along Van Duzer to Water Street and then back to Bay Street. It also covered part of the waterfront.
Dusty’s
dad was a lieutenant and was Commanding Officer of the 123
rd
precinct detective squad. He wielded a lot of powe
r
as Commanding Officer and many considered his job a political plum. He was also Dusty’s hook and rabbi.
One day, clear out of the blue
,
Dusty was promoted to Third Grade Detective Specialist. He remained o
n
patrol and, even though he made more money than his partner for doin
g
the same work, they remained good friends, although some of the guys did notic
e
some resentment on Frank’s part. Frank was laid back and had a very high boiling point. If he had any emotions, he controlled and hid them well. Both Frank and Dusty were hunters and spent hunting season upstat
e
every year at a hunting lodge.
Dusty was very smart and had a talent for taking tests. He studied har
d
for the Sergeant’s exam, which was held every two or three years and wa
s
considered one of the city’s toughest.
In March of 1971, Dusty got promoted and was transferred to the 9
th
precinct on Manhattan’s lower east side, which opened up the seat that John had been waiting for. Tom Holley called John into his office about a week after Dusty got transferred.
“Do you want the seat, kid?
”
asked Tom.
“Are you kidding? Damn straight, Tom!” answered John.
“Okay. Next Monday when you swing back into days you will start workin
g
with Frank Brownell in sector Eddie,” Tom said.
Even though John had worked with Frank before on a fill-in basis, he wa
s
nervous because he knew Frank had not been given any say in the matter. He had not bee
n
given the option of choosing his own partner. There were other footmen available in other squads but it would have meant squad changes. As a result, Fran
k
was stuck with John whether he liked it or not.
Monday came quicker than usual for John and he had to remember to bring certain items with him on radio motor patrol that footmen did not have to carry or worry about. One piece o
f
equipment required on patrol was the buxom riot gear helmet.
Occasionally radio cars had to respond to emergencies in othe
r
precincts or boroughs and there simply wasn’t enough time to go back t
o
your own precinct to pick up needed gear, so you had to be sure you had it with you. Footmen also weren’t require
d
to carry all of the forms that were needed to handle the varied an
d
numerous jobs that radio cars responded to.
John placed an abundant supply of U.F. 61's, DOA tags, dog bite forms an
d
a few missing person’s forms into his attaché case, which he had purchased when he learned he would be assigned to sector Eddie with Frank. Thankfully, footme
n
could always call a car and get the forms they needed to complet
e
the paperwork for any assignment that came their way.
John descended the stairs adjacent to his locker room and entered the muster room where he immediately availed himself to the shoe shin
e
machine. Once his shoes had a good buffing he made his way over t
o
the full length mirror hanging adjacent to the entry way of th
e
muster room and gave himself the once over. After inspecting himself side to side and front to back, he was satisfied that hi
s
uniform was in good shape. His shirt and trousers were recently dr
y
-
cleaned and he had made sure that they put militar
y
creases in his shirt. He walked over to one of the empty, metal chairs and sat awaiting the arrival of the 8X4 sergeant to conduc
t
the roll call.