Wednesday, January 06, 1999
Hamilton police era ends
Third family member retires after 27 years
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — On Tuesday, for the first time in nearly 50 years, the Simpson name was absent from aHamilton Police Division roll call.
Detective Rick Simpson retired Monday after 27-plus years with the department, following in the footsteps of his late father, Austin, and brother, Warren.
Rick Simpson “is probably one of the most conscientious detectives I've been blessed to work with — and his father was equally conscientious,” said City Councilman George McNally, who was police chief from 1969 to 1983. “We're losing too many qualified, experienced people.”
With Detective Simpson's departure, 15 Hamilton officers have retired in less than two years. “With all that experience walking out the door, it has had a major impact,” Sgt. Thomas E. Kilgour said.
The departures, involving a wave of officers who joined in the late '60s and early '70s, have kept the department busy filling vacancies and training younger officers, Chief Neil Ferdelman acknowledged. “But it's also an opportunity for us to get fresh ideas,” he said.
Under police pension rules, officers may retire at age 48 if they have worked 25 years.
The young retirement age gives ex-officers a chance at a second career — and time to fulfill longtime dreams. Mr. Simpson plans a two-week Alaskan cruise and tour with his wife of 21 years, Carline, this summer. Then, he said, he'll probably end up getting another job somewhere.
Mr. Simpson and another recently retired detective, James Nugent, were renowned for their skill in solving homicides, Chief Ferdelman said. Both worked on James Ruppert's Easter 1975 massacre of 11 family members — a case Mr. Simpson and Mr. Nugent both described as unforgettably horrific.
“I was the patrolman who had to go and help remove the victims,” Mr. Simpson recalled softly.
But Mr. Nugent and Mr. Simpson also were known as “tag-team pranksters,” Sgt. Kilgour said.
Mr. Nugent couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday, but Mr. Simpson swears that most of the pranks played over the years were Mr. Nugent's doing.
“He did most of it — and I got blamed for most of it,” Mr. Simpson said, laughing. “You ever know someone who stirs the pot, then slides away? That's him!”
Joking around helps officers cope with seeing the bad side of human nature, Mr. Simpson said. “It keeps us from going crazy — and becoming more gray-headed than we already are.”
He was known for maintaining an air of calm even in the most trying circumstances.
“My father was very calm and quiet in his demeanor. I guess I got that from him,” Mr. Simpson said, noting his father joined the Hamilton force in 1950, the year he was born. “I pretty much had an idea of what the job entailed. I had been around it all my life.”
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