Age is no barrier for Yakima's oldest cop

YAKIMA - Preston Brown is used to the question.

He figures he hears it four or five times a week. So, of course, he has his answer down pat: "I don't have any plans to retire at this time. I enjoy what I'm doing. As long as I can, I will continue to do it."

He's perfectly happy policing his district. And the guys on the force who give him a hard time know that. They're joking around when they tease him about retirement and old age. Besides, Brown says he doesn't mind.

"I'm the butt of the old-guy jokes," he says, good-naturedly. "I enjoy the banter. Usually, it has to do with failing memory, failing eyesight, failing hearing."

Brown, Yakima's oldest rookie cop in 1990, is now the city's oldest police officer. At 70, he still works full-time, patroling his beat with the best of the YPD blue.

The pay's pretty good - about $72,000 a year when you've put in as long as he has - but that's not why Brown keeps working. At least, that's not the entire reason.

"I really like the people I work with, and I like being a policeman, and the city of Yakima is a really good employer," he says. "I'm just happy to be here. I could add that old vaudeville line and say at my age I'm happy to be anywhere."

With nearly two decades on the job, Brown is one of the Yakima Police Department's senior officers. But he doesn't have the most seniority. He started his law enforcement career at an age when many are making plans for retirement.

He was sworn in at 51, just two years shy of retirement age for law enforcement officers in this state. While there's no mandatory cut-off, officers can hang up their holsters as early as 53.

Brown's got 17 years on that number and about a decade on the next oldest officer with YPD. Still, he's not the oldest police officer ever. That honor likely goes to Sgt. Manuel Curry, a New Orleans cop who died earlier this year after more than 63 years on the job. He was 84, and believed to be the longest-serving, active-duty, full-time law enforcement officer in the country.

Just in case anyone around here was wondering, "I'm not interested in breaking that record," says Brown, whose official 20-year anniversary with YPD will be - no joke - April 1.

Meantime, he's part of A-Gold, one of the department's senior squads. He works days, mustering from 6:30 to 7 a.m. at the downtown police headquarters. He works alone, patroling the streets without a partner, calling for back-up or assisting other officers as needed. His shifts ends at 5:10 p.m., but he can usually be found in the station after that.

"I find the work is exciting and stimulating," says Brown, who particularly enjoys traffic enforcement. "I think the general public would not be happy about hearing that. It's not the most popular aspect of police work, but I've always enjoyed it.

"I find there's a great need there," he says. "If we did not have traffic enforcement, we would not be safe on the streets. And sometimes we're not safe on the streets anyway."