Bill Napolitano - A New York City Cop

Ø 1) Read the text and say what has changed in crime.

Bill Napolitano’s police uniform is more than just a shirt, slacks, and a cap. He also has to carry a radio, two pairs of handcuffs, a flashlight, a set of keys, a notebook, a heavy stick, and a 38 Smith and Wesson gun. You might think that the gun is the most important item. But Bill has been a New York City cop for three years, and he hasn’t used it once. In fact, it’s his notebook that he needs most often.

“There’s a lot of paperwork involved in what we do, ” says Bill. We have to write reports on everything - complaints, parking offenses, burglaries - it’s very boring.”

Sometimes, though, Bill’s job is anything but boring. A few weeks ago, a New York police officer was shot and killed by a drug addict. During the funeral, a woman called the police station. She said that she had seen a man on the balcony of her apartment trying to force his way in.

“My partner, Tom, was at the funeral, ” re­members Bill, “so I drove the sergeant there. We went up on the roof and searched it. There are small areas up there on the rooftops, fenced in, where people have barbecues and so on. The sergeant saw the guy, but he ran away. So we chased him, and he jumped off the side of the building onto a terrace and swung himself down onto the floor below. We got him on the third floor, and he tried to run but we stopped him. I looked in his jacket and found a gun. He looked just like the guy who murdered the police officer. My heart was going fast, I can tell you! Later, we found out he wasn’t the murderer, but he had a long record of robbery and violence.”

Bill has seen a change in crime since he became a cop. New, dangerous drugs have spread like wildfire through the city, and addicts rob and steal to get the money to pay for them.

Most calls to the police station, though, are the same as they have always been. People hear screams from a family fight going on in the next apartment, and they call the cops.

“You have to go in and settle things fast, ” says Bill. “Sometimes you go to a place, and the people don’t have much money, and maybe the father’s out of work, and he’s drinking, or on drugs, or it might be the mother. And it’s terrible because of the children. The children have nowhere to go. They don’t know where to go.”

Ø 2) What is odd in the sentences?

a) The police uniformincludes: a shirt, slacks, a cap, a radio, two pairs of handcuffs, a handkerchief, a flashlight, a set of keys, a notebook, a heavy stick, and a 38 Smith and Wesson gun.

b) Policemen have to write reports on everything - complaints, curriculum vitae, parking offenses, burglaries.

Ø 3) Who are the victims of crimes? What does the text say about it?