Irish man''s twenty years on New York’s mean streets

In the ‘30s, up to 40% of the New York Police Department (NYPD) was Irish or of Irish descent. Now that figure has fallen to under 100 Irish immigrants. One of them, Finglas man Luke Waters tells Cormac O’Keeffe what it’s like on one of the toughest beats in the world

DOG Day Afternoon began Luke Waters’ career in the NYPD, and Scoobie Doo ended it. Fresh out of police academy, the 1980s emigrant from Dublin had a cushy number: guard duty in upmarket Manhattan, the home of United Nations dignitaries.

One afternoon, a bored Waters was confronted by a lady outraged by a dog peeing on the street. She pointed to a nearby sign proclaiming such activity was not allowed. She demanded to know what he was going to do about it.