This story is about Helmuth Ruppe, "Big Red".  Click on the link, he is the big guy on the left.  He is the guy who gave me the nickname "Newsboy" back in 1986 on my very first day on patrol in District 1.  Apparently I looked young enough to be his newspaper carrier.  He wondered if I had his newspaper.  I was 21 at the time but I looked 15.  I started growing my mustache that very day.  Had to look older.  Anyway, Big Red was sort of a legend to us Rookies.  He was a great cop.  He knew everybody on 42nd St and he always found a good collar if he was looking for one and he was always looking.  I learned a lot about reading the street and reading the people on the street  from Big Red.  4 years later in 1989 or 1990 I don't remember which, Big Red was set to retire.  I was his partner on his second to last night on patrol.  We had 59/8, 50/8, & 50/Bway.  It was a nice night out and we were up in the street, (off post) on 50th St heading from 8th to Broadway.  There was a boarded up abandoned building on the south side of the street.  The door had been forced open and was ajar.  We decided to check it out.  Big Red, being the smart cop that he was lets me go in first.  I had a flashlight and I didn't know that he didn't.  As I am checking the interior I hear Red start using very bad words behind me.  I can't repeat them here.   As I look back, he is storming out of the building.  I follow to see what is the matter and he is just mad and turning redder by the second.  I notice that he is rubbing his shoe on the sidewalk.  I then notice that Red had stepped in crap and no it wasn't dog crap.  It was the worst kind of crap to step in, courtesy of a resident homeless person.  This crap was all over Red's shoe, it was up the side of it and some had even found it's way onto the bottom cuff of his pants leg.  I could not stop laughing all night.  Red was very pissed off.  He was probably more pissed at me for laughing as much as I did.  I was tempted to call a 10-85 to get the rest of the night shift there to enjoy the spectacle.  What a way to go out of the job.  From Transit Police legend to comic relief in 1 minute.  It made my night.  if Red had  a flashlight that night I would not have a story to tell.

This story comes from my time in a small upstate NY Police Department.   Our shift had a patrol supervisor that we really didn't get along with.  Since it was quiet around town most of the time, the shift enjoyed donuts from Dunkin Donuts.  We even shared the contents with this supervisor, "we left him the donuts that we didn't like."  The one dozen box that we had purchased had a nice orange top on it with big letters that read DUNKIN DONUTS.  As I looked at the box, "and drooled over the contents," I noticed that it was about the size of a license plate.  I thought to myself that the two side flaps would wrap nicely around the back of a license plate.  Feeling a sudden desire at mischief I decided to tear off the top of the box of donuts and place this over the back license plate of the supervisor's patrol car.  Two days later it was still there on the back of the supervisor's patrol car proudly showing the DUNKIN DONUTS logo as the license plate.  I am sure the public figured that the cops were now endorsing their favorite donut shop and were proud of it.  I guess the supervisors never check their vehicles prior to the start of their shift.