Rookie on the Beat

Alex K. Payne, The Bronx Journal Staff Writer

Twenty-five years old, dress in blue jeans and a t-shirt, Denise Pabon arrives to her new job anxious to start a new day. A quick change to a navy blue uniform with about 10 pounds of accessories including a bullet-proof vest, a flashlight, baton, and a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic weapon with plenty of ammo complete her transformation.

Pabon is employed by the New York City Police Department and is just one of the 2,059 graduates this year to join the 40,000 men and women in blue. Her daily assignment is to join her team and troops out into the New York City streets. As a beat cop she’ll spend the day not only with murderers, rapists, robbers and drug dealers, but with lost children and shop keepers, apartment owners and lost tourists as well.

It’s no stroll down the street, however. Pabon recalls recently having to chase through Washington Square Park after an alleged robber. "That was pretty exciting. It was my first radio run. You hear a fellow officer actually chasing someone and he radios us to assist. It’s wild. You can hear how hard it is to talk into the radio while running. And it was hard for us to run with all that stuff on," she explained.

Pabon has relatively modest ambitions. She can see herself as a sergeant one day and says that she is eager to work with specialized units either with troubled youths or domestic violence. She entered the Police Academy in August, 1998 and just graduated in March of this year.

In no time, Pabon has had to grasp the challenges of being accepted by her peers and being respected in communities where being a police officer has not been the most celebrated position of late.

"It’s hard to know what the public thinks of us. Once, during my first weeks there was this guy standing on one side of the street corner while some other officers and I were on the other side. He kept looking in our direction in a threatening manner as to provoke us or something," Pabon says.

Even as a rookie officer, Pabon acknowledges that the recent shooting of Amadou Diallo, the African immigrant who was gunned down recently in a controversial police shooting, has put a strain on the relationship between cops and civilians. Still, Pabon says that it’s important that citizen keep an open mind. "I’m not taking sides until I have all the facts. We try not to even discuss it at work because there are so many different opinions. It’s rough. People who don’t deal with this daily don't know what it’s like when you feel your life is in danger," Pabon explained.

Pabon’s twin sister Jessica Pabon-Villalona who is also a New York police officer agrees. "If you only have a few seconds and in your mind it's either your life or [a suspect’s]...," she stresses. It’s evident that just the thought of having to fire off her gun would be quite unnerving for her. With already a dozen arrests in her 3 month tour, Pabon-Villalona takes pride in the fact that she has not had to fire a weapon once .

Denise Pabon insists that real life policing is nothing like what we see in the movies. "Our training was very extensive and very specific. We can’t just shoot people. No shooting at moving cars, animals or unarmed people unless they are less than 20 feet from you and your life is being threatened," she says.

"Now that I’m on the force I can see that most cops take their jobs seriously. Of course there are some who don’t," Pabon says. For instance Pabon who lives in the Bronx and works for the 6th Precinct on West 10th Street, recalls recently watching a new cultural diversity video, a film that is now required viewing for all cops to help them understand the different peoples and attitudes that are all part of the big apple. "Some officers were joking around and making fun of certain scenes in the film but most of us took it seriously," Pabon explains.

Born and bred in Spanish Harlem on 110th Street in Manhattan, Denise, Jessica and their brother Eric, were raised by their mother Antonia Martinez. Martinez herself has been a Police Administrative Aid for over 15 years assisting various lieutenants preparing role call, payroll and other clerical duties. Working with the department, she was sure to instill a high sense of respect for the law in her children.

At one point while growing up Denise and Jessica took a stab at a career in music. In the mid-80s they started a rap group called A Different Vibe and even went as far as making a demo tape of hip-hop numbers. No labels snapped them up, and so the sister went on to work a variety of jobs before settling on the police force. Both worked a brief stint as Living - Well Lady as aerobics instructors and later as customer service agents for Enterprise car rental.

Now on the job for a few months, Pabon already knows first hand the stress that comes with being a rookie on the force. "It’s especially hard for the women. You have to prove yourself more than a man would on the streets and internally," she says.

She certainly appears confident in her creased pants, shined shoes and long black hair tucked neatly under her police hat. She speaks with a quick cadence taking just enough time to annunciate every syllable.

Standing at five foot four with an athletic build she is one of three women and seven men in her Field Training Unit, a group of rookies that the department has paired up with experienced officers to help them through the day.

Carrying an 89 average, Pabon admits the Academy was no child’s play. She had to endure eight hours and 35 minutes of behavioral science, law and police science each day. Also included was two hours of physical training and gym tactics. Pabon recalls being least comfortable at the firing range at first. "Getting use to holding a gun and shooting was nerve racking. Especially while someone is right next to you and their empty shells are flying back in your face," she says.

Still, it doesn’t help, says Pabon, that some of her colleagues don’t take the job as seriously as she does. "I know of some female officers that flirt and date with the guys at work. Those girls lower the respect many women fight to get on the job," Pabon complained.

According to Pabon dating and policing do not mix. She says being a rookie is rough enough without strong emotional ties to your partners. "I’m still very new and I’m just feeling things out," she says. So, Pabon refrains from sharing the ritual of many off-duty officers at the local pub.

A self proclaimed social butterfly herself, Pabon enjoys having a good time as much as the next person but she must be careful. "There are off limit locations. Places cops cannot go because of heavy crime activity," she says. According to Pabon the Lime Light Dance Club on 20th Street and Sixth Ave. is one New York night spot that off-duty officers must avoid because of alleged heavy drug use. "You have to memorize all these places because there is an Inspection Unit that watches us to see if we’ll go there. They also can watch us to make sure we don’t take free food or merchandise from delis or local stores," she continues.

Already credited with one arrest, Denise, like her sister has not had to fire her piece on the street yet. And just like her twin she says she prays every day that she won’t have to.