NYPD Highway District 5 boss Joseph Bell calling it a career after 37 years: It was a great ride
A veteran NYPD motorcycle cop is calling it quits after 37 years with New York’s Finest — which saw him escort four US presidents and Pope John Paul II in the Big Apple.Lt.Joseph Bell, commander of the department’s Highway District 5, retired on Wednesday with a traditional walkout ceremony, and even busted a burglar on his way out the door..“The day before my walkout, my neighbor called and said somebody had broken into a house on our block,” Bell told The Post.
“I told him to call 911, and when I got there we saw the guy trying to get away — and we grabbed him.”It was a fitting cap to a stellar career in the department.Bell joined the department in 1989, working his way up the ranks through a series of assignments, earning a promotion to sergeant in 1996 and to lieutenant in 2000 — before taking over the elite highway unit.“I always admired the unit,” Bell said.
“I had a cousin who was in highway patrol when I was in the police academy, so I had an inside look at what the unit was about.I respected the professionalism and the work they did — escorting the president of the United States, line-of-duty funerals and riding motorcycles.“I’ve always been a motorcycle guy,” he said.
“I’ve had a motorcycle since I was 8-years old.If the NYPD was going to pay me to ride a Harley-Davidson, I guess that’s a dream job.
It’s not really work.”Those escorts included four presidents — Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W.Bush — as well as Pope John Paul II on a visit to the five boroughs in 1995.The retired cop called being part of a presidential motorcade “probably the highest honor.”Bell is also proud of his track record at the NYPD, including a run of three years without a fatal collision during his tenure at the 122nd Precinct on Staten Island, which also saw him crack down on traffic crimes.Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella presented him with a proclamation of appreciation.Bell said the hardest ...