New York City policewoman Carol Shaya's fondest on-the-job memory might sound like a nightmare to most people. "We got a call about a dispute--a man with a knife was trying to stab his girlfriend. My partner and I arrived on the scene and saw this guy with a machete. I said, 'All right, we have a problem here.' So I jumped out of the car and chased him down. When I pulled up this guy's arrest warrant and found out that he was wanted by the FBI in Puerto Rico and in New York City for a double homicide, I felt good. The FBI sent me a letter of congratulations. Sodid the mayor. That's the day I realized how much I love this job."
It was never Carol's intention to join the police force. "When I was still in high school, for kicks I took the test with my then-boyfriend. He really wanted to be a police officer, but he ended up in another line of work. I tested pretty well and decided to attend the academy. My stepfather has been a Port Authority cop for 23 years, so he wasn't too upset. At first, though, my mom said, 'No way.' But she and I have always been best friends, and eventually she came around."
Carol admits that her Playboy pictorial might cause a stir at the station house. "I'm proud of what I do and of the way I look," says Carol. "People are going to see me on the cover of Playboy and think twice before stereotyping police officers."
"I like my job because it's never routine or boring," says Carol, who has been assigned to work in some of the toughest areas in the Bronx. "You learn everything on the streets. I'm a good shooter and I handle my nightstick well. And, I can intimidate someone verbally. I've jumped from the roofs of buildings and I've done things that I look back on and can't believe."
As corny as this sounds, my mom's my hero. Whenever I even thought about doing anything bad when I was growing up, she found a way to keep me on the straight and narrow. And I'm really glad she did."
So what's a typical day in the life of this cop? Tough. Carol's precinct is where the movie Fort Apache: The Bronx was filmed. Did the film exaggerate the South Bronx' reputation? Carol rolls her eyes and laughs. "No, not at all. It really is like that. The only drawback tothis job is that so many cases get thrownout of court."
Born in Israel, Carol moved to New York with her mother and grandmother when she was four. "I went to Catholic school. At first, I felt like an outcast. Everyone was either Irish or Italian, and there I was, this little Israeli girl. But the boys liked me and my peers accepted me because I played sports--including basketball and softball--with them."
