Mouse took Ursa Minor and me to HalloweeM 34. We had a great time, and one of the speakers that I went to see was Daniel P. Smith, talking about his above-mentioned book. He made a great presentation and I really enjoyed his book.
I think my favorite snippet is this:
Often in his [undercover] role as a priest blending into the city's background, [Officer Rick] King provided close cover to any number of his colleagues who played the role of would-be victim, the easy target inviting crime to come his or her way.
"I'll never forget Art Novitt and his Superman costume," says King, recalling one of the unit's most notorious tales. "His wife was an excellent seamstress and put together this Superman costume for him that would have made Hollywood jealous. Fit him perfectly."
Novitt served as the centerpiece in a pickpocket set-up in the city's underground El stations. The group positioned Novitt, clad in the royal blue outfit with a blaring S on the chest, in one of the worker's booths. The team then removed the hinges of the door and rigged fire extinguishers to release cloudy gas upon the door being pushed open by Novitt. The act only began, however, when the decoy, playing the part of a drunken construction worker with money hanging out of his pocked, was the robbery target.
"So the decoy was lying on the bench," tells King, "and we'd see the guy come by with big eyes once he spotted the money. And when he went for the money, Novitt would push open the door, smoke would come up, and you'd hear Novitt say, ‘Halt, wrongdoer.'"
King and the other team members then emerged from beyond the subway's corners to discover Novitt and a stunned thief amid the cloud of gas.
"We'd say, ‘Superman, Superman, what's the problem?' and he'd say how this guy was trying to take the man's wallet. We'd thank Superman and lead the man away. Then, Novitt ran down the platform and it would look like he jumped off the side and began flying down the tunnel. You couldn't help but chuckle at the situation."
The next day in court the thief pleaded guilty, something King says all the pickpockets did, giving that the frequent consequence — 30 days' probation and time served — offered little punishment. In the courtroom, however, the judge asked the defendant if he had anything to offer in defense. And this rare time, the defendant spoke.
As King retells it, calling upon his repertoire of voices to play the role of judge and thief: "The guy says, ‘Well, yes, your honor, I would like to say something. It is true, I did take the man's wallet, but it wasn't the cops who arrested me, your honor. It was Superman.' All I remember was the judge shaking his head, thinking this one was new, and then giving the guy 30 days and an evaluation by a doctor.
"You have to allow yourself a laugh or two no this job, you have to break the monotony of things because most of what you see is the negative — it's ‘gallows humor,' making light of awful situations just to save your sanity."
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