My communication with Deputy Commissioner Conboy caused his newly promoted Lieutenant, James F. D., the coordinator of the Stress Committee, an agonized and troublesome night and morning as he conveyed to me in his handwritten memo of August 30, 1979. He denied three of my requests, but approved the others. That morning, the "Lord" confirmed this for him with a passage on Daniel, which he gave me a copy that was highlighted in a yellow marker. I thought these represented the lights flashing from the Mount.
In case I failed to take heed of the message of Daniel via Lt. Jim D., he did an end run around my rear. With the help of a Catholic Priest in Nassau County who was in recovery, a "Staff Questionnaire" was given to each present and former staff member of the Counseling Unit Staff. I was not given one, but I managed to obtain one.
The staff that Jim D. sent the questionnaire to consisted of some 37 members of the force. All but one, and that was the cop who had an MSW, came from Limited Duty NFA. In other words, these men and women were retained in the Unit after going through the program. They were all in trouble, serious trouble at one time, and had made a recovery in "AA." This presented an opportunity for a payback. If the questionnaire was so valid, why wasn't one sent out to all the members of the Department so they could evaluate their supervisors and commanding officers? I had very little choice in the selection of the personnel, as Dunne would select them and then tell me some one new came on board. Over the years, I had to sit on some explosive situations, such as the so-called counselor who was stealing and cashing pension checks. The same one who was trying his hand at jumping in the sack with cops' wives after he took their husbands to the hospital for detox. He got away with it because he threatened these women that if they told on him, he would have their husbands lose their jobs. One cop went after him in the hall up in the Police Academy and Dunne took the so-called counselor's side and the cop was given a medical retirement. Years later, this same counselor ran off with a cop's wife. The cop's brother was a Deputy Chief in Headquarters and then, and only then, did Dunne get the picture. Another hero came by way of a strike post up in the Bronx. He was on a fixed post and it was cold and he didn't want to be out there. His solution was to fire his service revolver at the gas tank he was assigned to guard. Hero number three was assigned to the unit on day care because he was a widower with two young children who took care of dad. He was detoxed some twenty times. A Brooklyn counselor came via "I surrender" route. He was a plain-clothes cop from the Third Division who "stole the Christmas nut." The "nut" is cop-speak for graft and it amounted to $3,000. I could go on, but I'll tell one more. This hero was an ex-marine and he shot a civilian in the stomach in a bar & grill. The civilian was saved because the shot hit his belt buckle. To make sure that the civilian didn't press the complaint, the cop's mama told him that she would slit his throat if her child lost his job on his account.
Continuing with the quality of the staff, we had a copy who had a Master's Degree from Hunter College in Social Work. Walter had become a Jehovah's Witness, as did his wife and two sons. The first one he tried to save was me, and I told him I was not interested. This made Walter mad and he stayed away from me, which was quite easy with the volume of work coming into the unit. I found out later on that he was attempting to convert every client with whom he had contact. This was only part of the problem that I had with him. Walter decided he was going to open a new car business selling electric cars. He called these "The Cars of the Future." He interested several of the staff to invest in his electric car and when the business went bust, he turned to other mountains to climb. One mountain he climbed with a vigor was a cop's wife. She was separated from her husband and she sought Walter's expert knowledge in how she could get him into treatment. Walter took advantage of this woman's problem. When I confronted Walter with his unprofessional conduct, he said that he was going to be promoted to Sergeant and would be leaving the unit shortly.
Back to the questionnaire, Lt. Jim D. asked in question #24 - In your opinion, how would you estimate the average client's view of the service received? D. allows six possible replies. These men and women were in no shape to work as officers, let alone venture opinions. Up until that time, I was still trying to get the Department to do something about the drug problem within the ranks. Now that was all put aside to nail me to the wall.
Who was this inquisitor? One thing I learned over the years was when you pick someone up from the gutter, they never forget. But not in the way you would think. No, its not gratitude, but it is that you are a constant reminder of how low they had fallen at some point in their lives. Sometimes a person will go to extremes to expunge the person who rendered help in a similar instance. This becomes almost an obsession to a cop who has advanced in the ranks. In a charles Dickens novel, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, the character, Pip, has a benefactor. This benefactor remains nameless and his identity is known only to his solicitor. One night, the benefactor appears at Pip's doorstep and identifies himself. He is in grave danger because to return to England is a government offense punishable by the gallows. It seems the benefactor was sentenced to Transportation For Life and confined to the Crown Colony in Australia. Pip's benefactor risked life and limb to thank him for a kindness rendered many years ago.
What has this Dicken's novel to do with the questionnaire that was given to the current and former members of the staff of the Counseling Service? In order to answer that question, I must take you back some 11 years ago. I was directed to interview and chart a young police officer who came in to see Chief Surgeon McCoy. This officer was a Youth Officer assigned to a unit working out of the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn. I spoke to the cop and then I charted him and the findings indicated that he was in Stage 5, Alcoholic. I escorted the officer and we went back to McCoy's office. His wife breathed a sigh of relief after I told McCoy that one of his problems was alcohol. The Chief directed him to Mount Carmel and told me to get going. I was in luck as I had another cop to take there also. Fred H. got the Department car from the garage in the Academy and we headed for the north-bound East River Drive to get to the Washington Bridge. We got stuck in the rush hour traffic jam under the highway near 34th Street. Fred called my attention to a cop in uniform who was being assaulted by a white male on the street. I had to go out into the traffic to assist the downed officer. I then returned to the Department auto after the prisoner was hand- cuffed and the arresting officer was out of harms way. The four of us, that is Fred, me and the two cops in the back seat, arrived at Mount Carmel Hospital several hours later. Five days later, both Fred and I took the duo to Glen Acre Lodge for three weeks of rehab.
A week later, I was called into the Captain's office where there were three men in civilian clothes. The Captain introduced the trio. One was a postal inspector and the other two were from the Chief Inspector's Investigation Unit. They asked me some questions about the cop I interviewed the week before and they asked where he now was and I tell them the information is confidential. They hit the roof and started jumping all over me. They accused me of protecting the worst kind of criminal on the face of the earth. I didn't know what they were talking about. Meanwhile, the Captain didn't like the sound of what was going down and he ordered me to tell the trio where this man was. I remained silent and they started to threaten me and they departed saying, "you haven't heard the last of us."
Late that afternoon, I got the straight poop from a buddy of mine from the Commission of Trails office. He read me the charges over the phone and he told me that they will proceed to serve the charges on our man by tacking a copy to the 81st Precinct bulletin board, another copy of the charges and specifications will be read to the out-going platoon at that command. A third copy will be sent to his wife at their residence on Long Island. I asked what I could do to prevent all of this from being spread all over the Department. My buddy said he could talk to his boss, the Commissioner of Trials and I could serve the charges on the cop myself as long as he signs them and I get a witness to the fact.
This is now early evening and I had to drive up to Glen Spey, which would take a couple of hours plus the return trip. This is after I put in a full day in the Unit. I called the director of Glen Acre Lodge and tell him that I am required to see both him and the cop and that is signature was required.
I turn up the driveway of the Lodge and my headlights pick up both the cop and Jim. We go into Jim's private office and I close the door. The cop is a white as a sheet and I hand him the charges. Tears well up in his eyes. He says this is the end of the job and he didn't want his wife to find out what he did. Then, for the first time, he tells me his dad is a retired First Grade Detective from the 88th Squad and he has two brothers on the job. One of the brothers is a Lieutenant working for the Police Commissioner. I thought to myself, with all the weight the kid has in the job, why are the two bosses from the Chief's Office leaning so hard on him. Then it comes out in the wash. After he tells me what he's involved in, he wished he died the day before.
After, the cop calms down and signs the charges and I return them to my case. He then tells me he has been thinking of killing himself. Now I am in a pickle. I call up Dunne and explain the situation to him and he tells me I can't leave the cop at Glen Spey now that he expressed to me and the Director that he wants to commit suicide. The only other choice that was open to me was to try and get Dr. J.B. Hayes, M.D. at St. Vincent's Hospital in Harrison, New York. By luck, there was a bed available.
The following day, I had another visit at the Medical Section by the two men from the Chief's Office, and now they had found out where the cop was and they accused me of sabotaging their investigation. They went on to tell me of the months and months of work they put into this case. Their parting words to me were that they would get me.
I went to the cop's brother, the Lieutenant in the P.C.'s Office and he told me he couldn't risk his job because of his younger brother's action. The outcome of the case was that the charges were filed and he was placed in Limited Duty, NFA. After outpatient treatment and "AA" therapy, he was restored to full duty. He stayed in a headquarter's assignment. He made Sergeant and recently was promoted to Lieutenant. Also, he was the co-author of the "Staff Questionnaire."