PAX Centurion - Fall 2016

Page 28 • PAX CENTURION • Fall 2016 617-989-BPPA (2772) of your shift: not bad when you went to work without a dime in your pocket! (The Banner Market at Lawrence Ave. and BHA, was a staple, always tried to get you to stay “a little late” for free, though.) Details were $15.00 per hour, and you better be home when the detail clerk called, or you were out of luck. (Even if you were home, the clerk could say he called and you didn’t answer the phone; how could you prove he didn’t before caller ID?). “Cashies” got many an officer in trouble years later, when the feds determined that they were subject to something called “taxes.” (Those bastards ruin everything…). Reliable answering machines and beepers made things slightly better in the 90’s, but only if you were near a land-line phone. If you were stuck on the X-way in traffic and couldn’t get to a phone soon enough, kiss your detail goodbye. All records were kept on paper, as were requests for days off, made through the chief clerk who might as well have been God. In some stations, requests were accompanied by a briefly-opened drawer, which was closed quickly if a corresponding envelope did not soon follow the “request.” Of course, today, with manpower shortages and minimum-staffing requirements, you can’t get a day-owed on a Tuesday in February, so which system was better? The cruisers began to improve in the 90’s (Ford C.V.’s), but the administration removed theAM/FM radios from them – replacing the gaping hole with a plywood cut-out (painted blue) – to prevent us from listening to the radio instead of monitoring our sectors. (Apparently, they never heard of Joe O’Malley and his trusty transistor radio!) The From Retirement Reminisce on page 27 Retirement reminisce; were the dino-days of the 80’s really that long ago?… events of January 25 th , 1995 onWoodruff Way in Mattapan changed lives, careers, interpersonal relationships and the way we thought about the job. Those events will forever be taught and re-taught at the BPD Academy as life-lessons to be learned in the hopes of preventing a repeat. Things really began to change when computers and cell-phones entered the mix, eventually resulting in what we’re dealing with today. Many a good officer who came on the job in the 80’s and early 90’s is either past, at, or will soon be approaching retirement eligibility. Each will choose the best moment for themselves to pack it in; for some, the process will be a well-planned and meticulously arranged, down-to-the-day retirement party with friends and family. For others, it may be a lonely, spur-of-the-moment, “take this job and shove it…” event that forces them to make the decision. In any case, new recruits; take heed: 32 and 55 will come a lot-and I mean A LOT – quicker than you think: Save money through the deferred-comp. plan, buy real- estate, take promotional exams, put family before details and overtime, seize opportunities; you know… all the things I didn’t do. In the early 90’s, I remember cruising around Charlestown with my partner, Joe Toomey, and thinking to myself while looking at vacant/abandoned property “Who the hell is going to pay $5,000.00 for that piece of garbage.” Tonight, I’ll be doing another detail. Like I told you before, I never did make detective… And by then, you’ll know why the veteran officers take the broken radio at the start of the tour and graciously give the rookies “the good equipment.” John “Jack” K. Bolstad ID#: 7992 Date of Appointment: 6/27/79 Date of Retirement: 8/31/15 BPD Assignments: B2 – C6 Favorite/Worst Memories, Likes/Dislikes Throughout Career: Just a whole lot of fun, laughs, good people to work with. Retirement Plans: Take it a day at a time, play it by ear. Contact Info.: johnbolstad2011@hotmail.com Kelly M. Maffeo ID#: 8701 Date of Appointment: 7/10/85 Date of Retirement: 9/11/15 BPD Assignments: A1 – C11 – E5 – S.O.R.I. – OPS – PDS Favorite/Worst Memories, Likes/Dislikes Throughout Career: Likes – All the great people I worked with. Dislikes – The hours of work sucked. Retirement Plans: Enjoying grandchildren and travel. Contact Info.: km2052@aol.com Mayfield Holliday ID#: 7992 Date of Appointment: 3/2/83 Date of Retirement: 8/30/15 BPPA RETIREES 2015-2016