By JENNIFER STEINHAUE, The New York Times
An assignment to a public official’s security detail is at once incredibly tedious and yet highly prestigious. It means having a coveted work schedule - generally two days of work, followed by four days off - but also long days, which usually run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The highlight of the day for a member of a security detail could be, say, a news conference at a paper plant on Staten Island. But there are also plenty of opportunities to meet anyone from Sandra Bullock to the president of the United States.
And while the plainclothes police officers flanking an official can often seem like an excessive accoutrement of power, there is also the rare possibility that they will end up saving the life of the official they guard, or the lives of others.
This was underscored Wednesday at City Hall when Detective Richard Burt (he was promoted yesterday from officer) helped pull Gifford Miller, the Council speaker, out of the Council chamber after shooting dead an assailant in the balcony of the chamber.
“It’s not for everyone,” said Inspector Michael Coan, a spokesman for the Police Department. “If you like being involved with the movers and shakers of New York City, then it works for you. But you’re never out front; you’re behind the scenes. In the investigative field, you might be taking the lead on things. But here, you are protecting other people who take the lead on things. If you like that, it works for you.”
The four highest-ranking elected officials in New York City - the mayor, the City Council speaker, the public advocate and the comptroller - have security details, as does the police commissioner.
Spokespeople for those officials refused to discuss the size of their bosses’ details yesterday, citing security concerns. But generally, people familiar with security practices say, there are about two people protecting an official, while the mayor has closer to seven, including two drivers who remain in separate cars, ready to peel out at any moment.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s detail appears smaller than that of his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was always surrounded by police officers whenever he moved. Mr. Bloomberg’s movement appears much less encumbered.
Mr. Bloomberg’s spokesman, Edward Skyler, declined to say how many people protect the mayor, but insisted it was not fewer than the number of people Mr. Giuliani had.
“I do not believe I am obligated to discuss his security,” Mr. Skyler said.
Police details are generally made up of detectives culled from the intelligence division of the Police Department, although any officer of any rank from any area of policing can join a team if they demonstrate special skills, Mr. Coan said. Those skills could be illustrated in an impressive arrest record, for example, or a display of stellar driving.
Besides the schedule, which many like because of the long periods off, there is the prestige that comes with protecting an elected official. And the female officers, in particular, sometimes say they enjoy the opportunity to work in plain clothes.
Camaraderie and an obsession with details are common to most security details. Some who work with the details say there are even rivalries among the teams guarding the same official.
Unlike most police officers, whose relationships with people can be adversarial and are usually short term, a member of a security detail has a complicated and personal relationship with the person he or she serves. The members know the secrets of the official’s world - whom he had dinner with, what time he came home and, often, his opinions of the person he just left, spoken with candor in the car on the way back to the office.
Mr. Bloomberg’s team members have been known to defend him when he is down in the polls and share jokes with him. He has visited the child of a member of his detail in the hospital.
Gov. George E. Pataki practices his Spanish with a member of his detail.
Mr. Miller enjoys a playful relationship with the members of his detail, said his spokesman, Fred Baldassaro.
“Gifford gives them all nicknames” he said. “He likes to talk police talk with them. If they say they are going to do a 10-63, he wants to know what a 10-63 is.” (A 10-63 is a meal break.)
Before the shooting in the City Council chamber on Wednesday, Mr. Miller had been at the center of another tense security moment. His detail was forced to sweep him away from a campaign event last year on the Upper East Side when shooting broke out nearby.
“They do bring a loyalty, trust and, many times, a friendship to the job,” Mr. Coan said of detail officers. “They are hard working, dedicated individuals, as we have seen.”