http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-nicknames2jul31,0,4848763.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines
By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
July 31, 2005
Working at the main desk at the Greenwich Police Depart-ment, Sgt. Michael O'Connor has been called many names.
Some officers have called him "The Walrus" because of his distinctive mustache, which also prompted another, more obscure handle, "Koo Koo Ka Choo," a reference to a line in The Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus."
Officers sometimes call O'Connor "Calf" in reference to having injured that part of his leg while playing baseball, and, less frequently, whimsical names like "Hipster" and "the Pope."
"That's just the beginning," O'Connor said. "One person can end up with a dozen of them."
In his career, Detective Christopher Webster said he was called "Cobweb" by a former supervisor early on, then "Web site," and now "Charlie Whiskey," his initials in the phonetic alphabet used by police during radio transmissions.
Another officer, Webster said, is called "Muzzle Loader" because of his participation in Revolutionary War re-enactments, and another has been dubbed "Hollywood" for donning sunglasses day and night.
"It's just part of the job," said Webster, who works in the Youth Division. "Everybody gets a nickname, and for the most part it's good fun."
At the Greenwich Police Department most officers earn or are assigned one or more nicknames by their fellow officers, sometimes linked to personal characteristics, quirks or hobbies, officers said. But some of the names are understood only by the initiated.
"Some of them don't make sense to people outside the department," Police Chief James Walters said.
"If somebody doesn't like a name, they tend to get called it more," Webster said.
A sampling of reported nicknames include "Montel," "Horse," "the Sheriff of Old Greenwich," "Muggsy," "Cooney," "T-Bone," "Betelgeuse," "Cheeseburger with Arms," "Cornelius," "Big Easy," "Joltman," "Nooper," "Fix-It," "Winkie," "The Wick," "Toe," "The Weed," "Pumpkinhead," and "Euell Gibbons," a reference to the late naturalist who appeared in commercials for Grape Nuts in the 1970s.
Over the years several officers have earned the nickname "Homing Pigeon" for staying close to headquarters, officers said.
Sgt. John Slusarz said he's acquired two similar nicknames -- "Grim Reaper" and "Dr. Death" -- because he seems to end up handling fatal accidents and other unpleasant calls more than other officers.
"I just seem to be there when those things happen, train vs. pedestrian," Slusarz said. "I catch it all."
Officer David P. Wilson said officers call him "Fangs" because of his pronounced bicuspids.
"I've had them filed down three times and they keep growing back," Wilson said grinning.
Walters said police tend to nickname each other because officers form tight groups with one another.
Walters said several years ago an officer tried to put together a roster listing all the nicknames of the department's 157 officers plus senior commanders. "It's a close-knit group in any police department and a lot of kidding that goes on," Walters said. "Part of that is the earning or awarding of a nickname."
With many of the department's officers being town natives, lifelong nicknames sometimes follow them onto the job.
Lt. Gary Honulik was given the moniker "Hondo" playing basketball for Greenwich High School from 1968 to 1970, in tribute to John "Hondo" Havlicek, the pro basketball Hall of Famer who played on eight championship teams with the Boston Celtics between 1963 and 1976.
"It was in reference to me playing sports and having an aggressive style of play and high intensity," Honulik said.
But police usually don't refer to a higher ranking officer by a nickname, O'Connor and Honulik said, and supervisors usually don't call each other nicknames in front of lower-ranking officers.
"It depends on the circumstances," Honulik said.
Officer Timothy Kelly said his older brother Detective Sgt. Thomas Kelly's childhood nickname for him, "Schwen," has stuck on the job. The name alludes to Kelly looking like "a little Dutch boy," Timothy Kelly said.
"Ninety percent of the officers have nicknames and I think it's part of the family atmosphere of the department," Kelly said. "Nobody gets offended and it could always be worse."
Copyright © 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.