Many thanks to all of you who submitted your questions to “Ask Monty”.  Your questions ran the gamut – from procedural, to personal, to fun.

In return, “Monty” provided you with some terrific answers.  He’s a one-of-a-kind guy and I’m extremely grateful to him for all of the time and care he took with this project.  It’s no surprise that he inspired the creation of such a memorable character.  The NYPD will never be the same without him! (not that he’s ever really retired.)
 
On to your questions and Monty’s answers:
 
Q: Have you ever killed anyone? Under what circumstances, and how has it affected you?

A: No. I've had many violent encounters, but fortunately I've managed to capture without killing.
 

Q: What type of gun/pistol is standard issue for a cop? Are there any specialists, like snipers for example, that are required to carry additional guns or rifles? If so, what?

A: A 9mm semi auto pistol is the gun of choice which almost all cops use. As far as specialists, the ESU (Emergency Service Unit) has all the big toys and the machine guns and sniper rifles, as per the orders of the Pope, President, and Police Commissioner.
 

Q: What kind of car does a detective drive, and how is it decided if a car is marked or unmarked? Do both marked and unmarked cars get those cool sirens?

A: Detectives get unmarked cars (usually a black Crown Vic with black tires). Cops in uniform get marked cars. Both marked and unmarked cars have sirens.
 

Q: Have you ever worked with a police dog? What areas, other than narcotics, are they used in? How do they communicate with their human partners?

A: Yes, I've worked with police dogs. They're well-trained and well-cared for by their human "partners"/trainers. There are narcotics dogs, cadaver dogs and regular "canine cops". The latter are often German shepherds, who are great at chasing down a fleeing perp when their human partner releases them and commands them to do so. For narcotics and cadavers, bloodhounds, retrievers, and labs are often used. When their careers are over, they're generally adopted by their law enforcement trainer. In my experience, one difference between TV police dogs and the ones I worked with at the NYPD, is that the real police dogs are trained to sit, not bark, when they find what they're looking for.
 

Q: You've worked homicide, narcotics, assaults, etc. Which did you find the most interesting/exciting?

A: Most people expect the answer to be homicide. In reality, most homicides might be graphic and/or bloody, but procedurally they're mundane. Narcotics, on the other hand, are more procedurally diversified-- and much better exercise, since they usually involve chasing down perps.

 
Q: Is there special training for units like narcotics, homicide, and/or special victims?

A: Yes, there's special training for all of the above. They include week-long courses, brush-ups, and on-the-job training, which is the most valuable and hands-on of all the training.

 
Q: Do all detectives have partners? Are those partners part of a squad? How many detectives make up a squad? Do they travel together and work as a team on every case?

A: All detectives have partners. They're part of the precinct's Detective Squads. In the NYPD 20-50 detectives make up a squad. The Detective Squad handles homicide, grand larceny, assaults-- everything but internal affairs, SVU, narcotics, and robberies, which have special squads just for them. In an investigation, three sets of partners work round the clock, each taking a shift.
 

Q: When a case is assigned, who decides who the "lead detective" is? What does he/she do that the other detectives on the case do not?

A: Lead detectives are assigned in rotating order. (If you were the lead detective in the previous case, you won't be the lead detective in the next case.) In every investigation, the buck stops with the lead detective.
 

Q: What are the relationships like between detectives and prosecutors?

A: Some good, some bad. The best prosecutors to work with are usually the ones with experience in the field as well as experience in the classroom. The more time they've served in the system, the stronger their skills are and the less their egos get in the way. Law school is great, but it's not a substitute for professional experience.
 

Q: How does the NYPD work with state troopers and/or county police? How is it decided whose jurisdiction a case falls into (city, county, or state)?

A: City, State, and County police all get along and work together as needed. Wherever the crime is committed is where the jurisdiction falls. In smaller towns, state police frequently have jurisdiction, unless there's a local sheriff who takes charge. Different locations have differently assigned jurisdictions. For example, in Long Island, NY, the state handles parkways. But in NYC, the NYPD has jurisdiction over the entire city, parkways included. Bottom line: If a crime happens in the city, that's who has jurisdiction. If a crime happens in the county, the county police have jurisdiction. Everything else falls into state jurisdiction.
 

Q: What do the different decorations on your uniforms mean?

A: By decorations, I assume you mean stripes. Gold, upside down stripes on the arm of a uniform are designations for sergeants. Other stripes-- white slash-mark stripes on a cop's sleeve-- represent every five years of service he's put in.
 

Q: When cops flash their badges to identify themselves, what should we look for to know they're legit? What information is on the badges?

A: First of all, ask for their ID card, not their badge. It's much easier to buy a fake badge than it is to buy a fake ID card. On the badge is the cop's number and what city he works for. On the ID card is the cop's name and photo. Cops themselves usually have 2 badges-- one real, one fake. They keep the real badge on them and the fake badge on hand in case the real one gets lost. Call it a back-up badge.

 
Q: Do cops from the same precinct socialize when they're off-duty? How about from different precincts?

A: All the time, especially right after work. "Choir practice", as we'd call it. We'd hang out together and drink for hours. After some of the things we saw while on duty, we needed it. And, yeah, we'd socialize with guys from different precincts, too. Transfers happen, but friendships stay alive, even after retirement.
 
Q: What's your favorite brand of beer?
 
A: Heineken.
 

Q: Are there any other cops in your family?

A: Yes, and all of them are/were with the NYPD. My father and uncle were cops. And my sister and brother both work narcotics.
 

Q: What are the benefits of being a PI over a cop?

A: Freedom. PI's don't have to follow the same strict set of rules or spend hours of each day filling out paperwork.
 

Q: Is there one unsolved case that haunts you to this day (like the unsolved murder of Morgan's parents in DARK ROOM)? Please explain.

A: Yes. It was the murder of a cab driver in the early '90's. I knew in my gut who the killer was. Plus, there was DNA evidence and physical evidence to support my instincts. The catch was that the suspect was on parole and his parole officer refused to allow him to provide a DNA sample in order for me to check for a match. (Yeah, they were allowed to do that back then.) So the arrest was never made. It bugs me to this day, and with DNA testing being so much more sophisticated now, I'm still not letting it go.

 
Q: What case are you the proudest of solving? What are the details of the case?

A: There are several cases I feel that way about. The one that comes to mind is a case I worked on with the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) and the Raleigh, NC Police Department. A 20-year-old woman was poisoned to death. Her body was set on fire and thrown in the Fountain Avenue dump in Brooklyn. When we found her body, her driver’s license was on her, and it was a Raleigh, NC license. It turned out that she was a CI (confidential informant) for the ATF and the Raleigh police, helping them collect evidence on three drug runners, whose activities were responsible for countless deaths and addictions from North Carolina to New York. One of those drug runners was the father of the CI's baby, which gave her inside access, but also put her in danger. The drug runners figured out what she was doing and killed her. Since it wasn't clear where the poisoning (the actual cause of death) took place, and since she was a CI for both the Raleigh police and the ATF, this became a federally prosecuted case. We at the 75th precinct (where the Fountain Avenue dump is located) worked the case for two months, and it was the detectives of the 75th (myself included) who ferreted out and arrested all three perps in Brooklyn. I testified in North Carolina Federal Court when they were tried. All three perps were found guilty and are on death row for their brutal crimes.
 

Q: TV shows make it appear as if a detective works one case at a time. What IS the 'average' case load of a homicide detective in a major American city at any given time?

A: An average case load would vary from precinct to precinct and of course city to city as cases are handled in different ways. In NY all robberies are handled by a precinct Robbery detective, sex crimes by a Special Victims detective (separate unit) and all other good stuff by the precinct detective. When a precinct detective catches a homicide, he is assisted by a borough Homicide detective to expedite the solving of the case. So to answer your question, it wasn't unusual for me to carry 30 cases at a time. These are larcenies, assaults, domestic violence, and the like.

 
Q: Of all the police shows on television, 

Cops
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
NYPD Blue
The Closer
The Shield
 
which one is most accurate and how is it accurate in depicting police work?

A: NYPD Blue is my #1 choice for accuracy. Also Law and Order. NYPD Blue showed all the characters as they really are, as well as how the cases affected them, and the conflicts that come up between cops and prosecutors. Law and Order shows the cop/prosecutor relationships very accurately, too. As for characters, Jerry Orbach's (Law and Order) attitude was dead-on for an NYPD detective. Ditto for Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue).
 

Q: I am a big fan of cops. I think Monty is very special and hope people like him really exist because this world needs good, decent people who protect us. Do you think you're as good in real life as you are in WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME and DARK ROOM? Thank you; I so hope you are.
 
A: I'm every bit as good as Monty-- even better! After all, I inspired the character. I have Monty's level of commitment, his stubbornness, his need to right wrongs and protect those who need it. I also have his sense of humor, his guts, and his smarts. The only difference is, I'm much more humble than he is.
[Author's Note: I can vouch for the above. Except for the humility part-- the jury's still out on that one.]