My first Deputy Commissioner, a badass in every form of the word and the man who hired me (DOJ Organized Crime, AUSA SDNY, took down the mob) lost a brother to crime.  In his early 20s, while on witness protection duty, he was assassinated in his vehicle by two gunmen accompanied by two lookouts.  President Reagan made this event a key component of his policies.

I had the privilege of attending his memorial mass in NYC,  Held at the magnificent St. Patrick’s Cathedral in downtown Manhattan, it was a sight to behold.  Sniper units on rooftops, our Vapor Wake dogs (selectively breeded, highly trained, have their own baseball cards), the bagpipes, helicopters.

And when the Deputy Commissioner got up to speak, everyone was silent and in awe of how he described his brother’s life and passing.  And all the good that followed.  People are surprised when I tell them that NYC was once one of the safest cities in the US.  It went from over 2000 homicides to roughly 500 in two years.  Now it’s run by those who can be described generously as self-serving, incompetent, political types.  Nevertheless, heroes do exist.