You can score victories against crime — but no one defeats time.
Detective John Roe, 62, the oldest and longest serving of some 34,000 officers on the NYPD, is retiring this month — and he’s not at all happy about it.
“If I could continue in good health, I would stay working until I’m 70 or 75,” said Roe, who joined the department 44 years ago and holds its highest investigative rank — “first grade’’ detective,
Like all cops, Roe, who serves in Harlem’s 26th Precinct, must retire before hitting age 63 — and he reaches that scary milestone on Halloween.
“I’m angry that there is an age limit, but you can’t fight Father Time,” he said.
He admits he’s somewhat of a “dinosaur”: He doesn’t carry a standard-issue 9 mm Glock semiautomatic but, along with about 300 colleagues, relies on an old-time “six-shooter” — a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 10.
He also keeps a five-shot Smith & Wesson strapped to his ankle.
Asked why he keeps a shiny computer and printer on his desk, he answers, “Doesn’t mean I use ’em!”
He began his storied career as a “police trainee” in April 1968, when Lyndon Johnson was president.
He was appointed as a cop in November 1970 and went on to work in the 40th Precinct.
His subsequent assignments included stints in the Street Crime, Sex Crime and Narcotics units.
For the past two decades, he’s handled murders, robberies, burglaries and assaults, particularly domestic-violence cases.
“I’ve had the most fantastic career. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” he said.
He estimates he probably made more than 1,000 arrests and assisted in twice as many.
So, what’s next?
“It’s about a stag party where this girl is killed and they accuse this cop of her murder. The cop winds up hanging himself, and his partner goes about trying to clear his name,” he said.
He admits he’s somewhat of a “dinosaur”: He doesn’t carry a standard-issue 9 mm Glock semiautomatic but, along with about 300 colleagues, relies on an old-time “six-shooter” — a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 10.
He also keeps a five-shot Smith & Wesson strapped to his ankle.
But in all his years on the force, he’s never used his guns, except on the range.
In a world of texting, e-mail and social media, he uses pen and paper and admits to being “computer illiterate.’’
Asked why he keeps a shiny computer and printer on his desk, he answers, “Doesn’t mean I use ’em!”
He began his storied career as a “police trainee” in April 1968, when Lyndon Johnson was president.
He was appointed as a cop in November 1970 and went on to work in the 40th Precinct.
His subsequent assignments included stints in the Street Crime, Sex Crime and Narcotics units.
For the past two decades, he’s handled murders, robberies, burglaries and assaults, particularly domestic-violence cases.
“I’ve had the most fantastic career. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” he said.
He estimates he probably made more than 1,000 arrests and assisted in twice as many.
So, what’s next?
He collaborated with author Reed Farrel Coleman on a mystery, “Bronx Requiem,’’ available” next month as an e-book.
“It’s about a stag party where this girl is killed and they accuse this cop of her murder. The cop winds up hanging himself, and his partner goes about trying to clear his name,” he said.
His last official day of work will be Oct. 26, when he’s slated to have a ceremonial “walkout” as he’s saluted by scores of cops at Police Headquarters.
Due to quirks in the ways pensions are tabulated, he’ll make more staying home than working. But he doesn’t golf, he doesn’t fish and his only real hobby is catching bad guys.
“People tell me about retirement, “ ‘It’ll be good for you,’ ’’ he said. “I tell them, “It’s good for everyone else. Not for me.’ ’’
Perhaps that’s because being a cop is in his blood. His brother, William Kenneth Roe, retired as a captain in 1998 after 37 years on the force. His dad, an uncle and a nephew were also in the NYPD.
Roe will spend time with his two grown daughters, live part time in Myrtle Beach, SC, and travel the world on a series of 30-day cruises that he’s already booked.
Sounds great, but he’d be a lot happier traveling daily to the station house. If only he could.
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