FIRST PERSON: An Insider’s View Working on Two Sides of the Uniform Business

By Martin W. Turetzky

I spent 39 years with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), worked as commanding officer of the Police Equipment Section, and I hated to leave. I retired the day before my 63rd birthday, the mandatory retirement age. I loved the job and could easily have stayed on, but that was not to be.

What happened after that amazed me. I never imagined I would be working in the uniform business, for Miltons Limited, in New York.

My last 21 years on the job with the NYPD, I was assigned to the Police Equipment Section. I began my police career on patrol, in the 40th Precinct in the Bronx. Ten years later I was promoted to Sergeant, and transferred to the 6th Precinct in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan. Later I served in the Traffic Division, Taxi Squad and Highway Patrol. The Police Equipment Section supervisor, Lieutenant Erwin Brown, interviewed and hired me for the vacant sergeants position in his command. To this day, we remain close friends. Three years later, when Lt. Brown retired, he recommended me to replace him as commanding officer of the Police Equipment Section. I remained in that capacity for 18 years.

The NYPD Police Equipment Section is similar to an armed services Post Exchange (PX). All purchases over $10,000 are subject to competitive bidding. The Equipment Section stocks everything the police officer wears or carries as part of the official uniformfrom buttons to firearms. Run like a small retail store, the Police Equipment Section handles about $8 million in purchases each year. They offer the New York City police officer a good dealthey buy in large quantity to get volume pricing and then add a small markup. Police officers know that the products they buy from the Equipment Section are competitively priced and meet NYPD specifications. Once or twice a year, police recruits are hired in classes ranging in size from 800 to more than 2,000. New recruit classes of 1,000 can be outfitted within a single day, using an assembly line format. Of course, it takes months of planning and preparation to get ready for each new class.

I remember some of the challenges the Equipment Section faced over the years. At the time of the first World Trade Center bombing, Raymond W. Kelly was the police commissioner (PC), a position he still holds today. The PC called me and said our detectives needed protective coveralls and work boots immediately to aid in their investigation of the crime scene. NYPD detectives usually wear a suit and tie. Ordinarily, it would take weeks to comply with such a request. However, as a result of a good working relationship with the uniform dealers and their cooperation, I was able to fill the PCs request within days.

Fortunately, I had a progressive boss, Joseph P. Wuensch, deputy commissioner of Management and Budget, who encouraged innovation and improvement in the commands under his supervision. I enjoyed working for Deputy Commissioner Weunsch for many years. Years later when I retired, Commissioner Kelly contacted me, this time to return to serve on the departments Uniform Committee as a civilian consultant. The NYPD Uniform Committee was established in 1987 by Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward and is the departments decision-making group concerned with the police officers professional image and actual street appearance. Although I enjoyed the responsibilities of the NYPD Uniform Committee, I resigned when I agreed to work with Miltons Limited in New York.

When I retired from the police department in December of 2000, my wife, Rebecca, and I spent a month in Florida, where my son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Teresa, and the grandchildren reside. Shortly after returning to New York, I started working as an assistant deputy marshal with the United States Marshal Service for the Southern District of New York.

When Miltons approached me to work for them, I decided to give it a try. Why did I choose to work for Miltons? They are a family-owned and operated clothing manufacturing business, located at 40th Street and Sixth Avenue, in the heart of New Yorks garment district. Miltons is run by a young husband and wife team, Kerman and Shalini. Shalinis father started Miltons over 40 years ago. These two won me over. They are delightful, courteous, knowledgeable and professional.

At 63, I felt I was too young to retire. I enjoy an active lifestyle. I jog five miles a day four days a week and weight-train the other three days at the gym. I enjoy working with Miltons of New York. The position allows me to work parttime, continue my involvement in law enforcement organizations and travel. My wife is a college professor, and her schedule allows us to spend time in Florida in the winter.

I appreciate the contrast between working as the commanding officer of the NYPD Equipment Section and my position with Miltons. I have spent time with people at both ends of the business.

While at the NYPD, I worked in law enforcement. I was the end-user and the buyer, meeting with uniform sales people who wanted to sell garments to the police department.

Now, I am the salesperson. I am the one to visit uniform vendors in an effort to sell to them. Ironically, these are the same people I authorized and regulated for 21 years.

I always tried to be fair with the uniform dealers, and now, when I stop by their stores, I feel welcome, like I am visiting old friends. Once vendors see the quality and price of Miltons clothing, the products sell themselves. Miltons prides itself on quality garments at competitive price points. Their outerwear and belts and now tactical trousers are being supplied to the New York City Police Departments Equipment Section.

I also assist Miltons in developing ideas for new merchandise or modifying existing products to meet current demands in the marketplace.

I attend trade shows to build new relationships and cement old ones. Now, I have time to continue my leadership role in law enforcement organizations, which also provide valuable networking opportunities. Many of my retired NYPD colleagues now hold senior management positions in public and private sector security firms. They have become my potential clients. Needless to say, when I retired, this was the furthest thing from my mind.

But I am grateful for the opportunities. I never realized working in the uniform business would be so rewarding.