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Longest-serving NYC police officer retires

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NEW YORK, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Lt. John Wolf, the longest-serving police officer in New York, is off the job, leaving just before hitting the mandatory retirement age of 63.

Wolf's wife, Kathy, joined him for a "Walk Out" Friday at the Manhattan South headquarters on 42nd Street, The New York Daily News reported. Wolf spent 36 years with the Manhattan South Task Force.

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The couple walked together through a double row of Wolf's colleagues and commanders.

Many New York police officers leave after 20 years when they become eligible for a pension, and most are gone once they hit the 30-year mark. But Wolf, an officer for nearly 45 years, said he was having too much fun.

"If I could stay longer I would," Wolf said. "There's a Chinese proverb: Find what you like to do and you'll never have to work. I just enjoy police work."

Wolf, who grew up in the Yorkville neighborhood on Manhattan's upper East Side, joined the department in 1965 as a fingerprint technician. Three years later, he was a police officer.

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