Forward

I find that while writing this the stories get less fun as the timeline progresses. Then I sat back to realize this job had gotten less fun too. The department evolved, making for much of this change but mostly as a person progresses through various levels of supervision, the fun slows down significantly. I’m definitely not the 24-year-old new cop full of “piss and vinegar” as the saying goes. I’m 57 and a police captain.

I remember the first time I thought I wanted to be a cop with NOPD, specifically. A man named Henry Schmitz had two kids at the after-school care job I held. He worked security at Baptist Hospital. He’d arrive in uniform to pick the kids up and soon he started showing up in an NOPD uniform. I got this itch right then. Man, how cool! I still see Henry at the FOP meetings. Brings it back every time I see him. Doubt he knows this, but I’ll tell him at the next meeting, in September of 2023. (I did end up telling him at that meeting. We ended up shooting the bird at each other because that’s what cops do. All in fun, of course.)

That was in the early 80’s. I never thought much of being a cop after that year. Then, being frustrated with the job I had, AND after seeing a few recent police movies, I started thinking about it again out of the blue.  Also, I had graduated with a Business Administration degree and learned about pensions.  Not many jobs offered one, but this did.  You can't beat a pension.  No matter what you put in, it doesn't run out of money for you until you run out of life.  Not so with a 401K.