Octogenarian (aka-Dinosaur)
I was born and raised in and around Detroit Michigan and have vivid recollections of being awakened early in the morning on December 7, 1941, to newspaper boys walking down the street yelling WAR. We all scrambled to read about the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Most of the rest of the day was consumed by listening to the radio for further information. Church was heavily attended that Sunday.
World War II ended before I was in high school. But while in high school our military was fighting in Korea. 

Eight months after graduation I joined the Marine Corps, and headed off to boot camp, to begin my three year enlistment. I wound up serving with a Marine Aviation Detachment as an instructor at a Naval Aviation Training Station. Korea went into a cease fire status and the thirty-eighth parallel, became the “temporary” dividing line between North and South Korea. When my three years ended I chose to stand down, and return to civilian life. I then took a couple of sales jobs, and wound up repairing dictation equipment.

Through that job I met and married my first wife. After a couple of years in that job, I quit because it was a dead-end job.  But then fate intervened. While attending a Christmas Party at one of my Aunt and Uncles homes I meet a Detroit Police Officer, who was their neighbor.  We talked and he advised that the Detroit Police Department (DPD) was hiring and had a preference for former Marines. That was the Christmas of 1956. I was sworn in and started the Detroit Police Department Academy July 8, 1957.

As was common at that time, our class was formed up into what was called a “Special Patrol Force”, which meant that as a large unit we would be assigned to a Precinct where they were having a particular problem, and we would saturate that area with foot beats, usually from 9:00pm to 5:00am, unless the problem was daytime burglaries, and then we would walk from 8:00am to 4:00pm in civilian clothes. Some fun! I’ve done that when it got clear up to zero, at noon. Oh, and we didn’t have hand held radios, so if you made an arrest you had to walk them to a call box to call for transportation. Of course you did have the option of calling the station if you could find a pay phone that worked, in what were then called “The Projects”. Using your dimes wasn’t what you looked forward to doing when you were earning under $300.00 a month. Part of those months were assigned to the Thirteenth Precinct, which was the location depicted in the Hollywood Movie “Assault on the 13th Precinct”

After eight months on the SPF, I was assigned to the First Precinct, which abutted the 13th, 2nd and 3rd, Precincts. Number One, as it is referred to, was housed on the first floor of the Police Administration building located at 1300 Beaubien Ave. close to downtown Detroit. A lovely old structure nine stories tall. The Eighth Floor was where female prisoners were housed, and the Ninth floor was where men were housed. Floors two through seven housed the various divisions and administrative offices.

In 1963, after more than six years with the DPD, a family decision was made to depart Detroit and move to California.  We arrived in Los Angeles and I was fortunate enough to quickly land a job with Pacific Bell Telephone Company as a Lineman out of the Burbank yard. I only stayed there for a year, during which I saw that Law Enforcement in California was a different animal than I knew from Detroit.

I applied with the Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) after learning they were hiring from one of my brother-in laws, who lived in Burlingame. I was hired and began the academy in October of 1964. My fifteen years with Palo Alto were spent working the various shifts, divisions, and assignments throughout the Department. Interestingly, my first assignment was right out of the academy, and it entailed working undercover, alone on narcotics.  Only the people that I had been in the academy with knew who I was at that time. Part of the reasoning, at the time, was that I could do it because I had worked vice when with Detroit, and there were no ghettos’ in Palo Alto! Once finished with that, I went into the regular rotation for new officers. Foot beat, Parking enforcement, Patrol, Traffic (Radar, accident Investigation) Investigations –Criminal Intelligence, Patrol FTO, Services, Records Division, etc. etc.

During that time, I met and married my wife, Sharon and together raised two more great children. I also completed college, earning a Bachelor Degree while working full time. The Department also sent me to the FBI schools to become a Fingerprint examiner, which included attending the FBI academy at Quantico.

After being retired on Industrial Disability in 1979, I worked briefly as a “head hunter” for a personal employment agency, before getting hired to do Private Investigation work, on disability claims for Insurance Companies from 1980 until 1982. I then obtained my Private Investigators License and opened my own business.  The bulk of my work over the intervening years has been for various kinds of Attorneys.

For “entertainment” I guess you would say, starting in 1971, I have loved being involved in Law Enforcement Association business. It was in 1971 when I was one of the co-conspirators that set in motion the founding of what became known as the Palo Alto Peace Officers Association (PAPOA) during my working years with PAPD, I served on the Board of Directors until retiring. During that time I served as President one year.

Since retiring from LE I have been active with the RPOAC.  After a few years I was appointed as Director for the Bay Area Chapter, and since the passing of then Central Coast Director and RPOAC President Alan Garcia, as Director of Central Coast Chapter, during which I have served five years as President and one term as Treasurer.

For the past year I have also served as the At Large Director of Chapter 105 of the Retired Public Employees Association (RPEA).

All I can say is BEEN THERE….DONE THAT!
Semper Fi