Saluting a Law Enforcement Ambassador
Roland Walker, one of Montauk’s most well-known patrolmen, is one of the few parks police officers to have worked at every single post on Long Island during his career.
“He’s probably the best-known New York State parks police officer on Long Island,” said Lt. Tom Grenci of the East Hampton Town police, who went to the police academy with Officer Walker and worked closely with him over the years.
Before Officer Walker hung up his Stetson yesterday after 31 years on the job, his colleagues looked back at his long career in patrol, describing him as a good cop who was unflappable and possessed the skill to diffuse difficult situations with his calming voice and compassion.
“The thing that stands out with Roland, in my mind, is that he knows how to deal with people and the public. It doesn’t matter if he’s working at a concert at Jones Beach or handling a domestic at Montauk Point, the guy is unbelievable,” Lieutenant Grenci said.
For Officer Walker, a Bridgehampton native who lives in Riverhead, Montauk was his home away from home — he worked there every summer until 2009, when he left for Wildwood State Park in Wading River and ended up staying. Whether it was patrolling the campgrounds at Hither Hills, answering a dispute between surfers and fishermen at Montauk Point, or investigating a death, he was the consummate professional, according to his former partner Manny Vilar, a Springs resident and senior sergeant in the state parks police.
“The thing that makes a good cop a really great cop is not the amount of tickets they can write or the amount of arrests they can make, it’s the way in which they interact with the public they serve, both when times are good and when you’re dealing with the public and there’s an unfortunate situation,” he said. “As a police supervisor, you would want to have 100 of him.”
Roland Walker, fourth from left, met now Lt. Tom Grenci in the 1983 academy class. Grenci Family
Officer Walker got his start in law enforcement in an unconventional way. He got his first parking ticket after a party following his 1981 graduation from Bridgehampton High School. He went off to Virginia State University, forgot to pay up, and when he returned home, he got hit with fines. He adopted an “If you can’t beat them, join them” mentality and began the process to become a police officer. It’s a story he laughs about now.
The Southampton Village Police Department sponsored the then-20-year-old through the seasonal police academy in January 1983. But when he graduated he found he wasn’t yet old enough to work as a police officer and instead spent the summer doing security at Cedar Point Park in East Hampton. That led him to find an opening with the state parks police, which gave him a seasonal position in April 1984. He was rehired in May of 1985, becoming a full-time officer the following year, and never left.
Officer Roland Walker, left, and East Hampton Town Police Officer Tom Grenci in 1990. Grenci Family
State parks police officers usually work alone, and state parks are spread far apart on Long Island, but East Hampton Town police considered him — Stetson, different uniform, and all — one of them.
Officer Walker said he learned a lot about police work from his friends, many of whom are now retired, like Ed Ecker, Kevin Sarlo, Tommy Miller, John Anderson, Steve Grabowski, Steve Doane, and Tina Giles. They would meet up for a cup of coffee at Salivar’s (the only place to get one during the midnight shift), and then they’d gather at the old Viking Grill on the docks for breakfast. Officer Walker still calls those end-of-shift breakfasts the best he has ever tasted.
The camaraderie grew, with good reason, as they relied on him for backup, and he on them. He also made friends with the local dispatchers, who back then were his lifeline to his headquarters in Babylon, since the radio communications wouldn’t reach that far.
His personality made working together as if they were one team easy, Chief Michael Sarlo of the town police said, calling him an ambassador for law enforcement. “His easygoing nature, fast smile, and positive attitude made him a popular figure,” he said.
They got to know each other well in those early days, when the future chief was field training in Montauk. The two would share laughs and debate the local high school hoops scene — Officer Walker being a Bridgie and Chief Sarlo a Bonacker.
Mr. Ecker, a former town police chief who knew Officer Walker best from his days as a detective, said there was a mutual trust. “He was always sharp, always an asset. I’ve heard the same things about him up and down the Island,” he said. “I knew when I got to a scene that if Roland was there everything was going to have been done the way it needed to be done.”
As a rookie, he made fast friends with Thomas Grenci Sr., the parks maintenance supervisor at Montauk Downs at the time. It was through him that he got an introduction, and later a set of keys, to the Montauk Firehouse so he would have a place to go for a break, especially during cold, quiet winter nights.
“The Montauk Fire Department always made me feel like I was a person who grew up there,” Officer Walker said. During the annual Montauk Friends of Erin St. Patrick’s Day parade — of which he worked 27 in the course of his career — firefighters would look for him along the parade route. “They would always joke with me: ‘You’re going to be the first black grand marshal in the parade.’ ”
He recalled being invited for many meals at the Grenci household in those days, where the late Mona Grenci would serve up her signature Italian cooking and he and Tommy Grenci, then a rookie, would watch “The Young and the Restless” over lunch. “I gained like 20 pounds one winter because I was eating over there so much. She was like a mother to me.”
Thanksgiving dinners at the Eckers, who always invited those working during the holiday to share their meal, probably didn’t help his waistline either, but they are fond memories just the same. “They really made me feel like a part of the family,” Officer Walker said.
He didn’t keep that extra weight on for long, however. He discovered a love of fitness, first as an aerobics instructor and later in the spin studio, where he uses his zest for life to motivate. He has a strong following on the East End, which is sure to keep him busy in retirement.
Officer Walker set “an inspiring example” for all police officers, Chief Sarlo said. “He remade himself early in his career, and from then on he always knew the importance of staying physically fit to handle the rigors of police work.”
Beyond the police work, it is a “big, bright smile” from “a gentle giant” that people like Bucky Silipo, the parks supervisor at the Montauk State Parks complex, will miss. “He’s one of those old-school state employees who was dedicated to the job.”