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Five months of education and training followed, a course in self-defense and then the exam at the New York Police Department. In the summer of 1980 Rosa Schupbach was accepted as an auxiliary police officer for her district, which is one of the most densely populated areas of the United States and has 250 regular police officers and 90 auxiliary officers.

“20% of the team are women. In the five boroughs of New York there are about 38,000 regular and 6,000 auxiliary police officers, both men and women. The auxiliary officers support the regular police force. We are not paid and are not allowed to patrol the streets after 11 p.m. without special permission because we do not carry firearms.” But they do have bulletproof vests. Rosa has her own bulletproof vest made to measure. “I wear the same uniform as all New York police officers but with a different emblem on the sleeve. We are equipped with walkie-talkies and are connected to Police Headquarters as well as to all the regular police patrols in the area.” For her defense she carries on her belt a wooden nightstick, which is 25 inches long and two inches thick. “Using it is allowed only if our own life is in danger, if we cannot flee, or if someone else is in serious danger.” In all the years Rosa has provided well over 5,000 unpaid hours of service as auxiliary police officer. She is not only the oldest, but also the most senior auxiliary officer in her police precinct. “I have never been afraid, just like my father. He was not afraid of anything or anybody. But I am never rash. I always keep my eyes open. I am a woman of a certain age; people don’t get too close to me. I walk right up to people. Once I am about a foot away from them, they begin to retreat so that there is no need to touch them. This is simply due to my determined manner. Anyone who physically attacks a police officer in New York will be arrested and goes to jail. I patrol the streets either on foot or in a police car, in summer and winter, in every kind of weather. Winter nights in New York are bitter cold! We are also in action at parades and street markets, we help with accidents, and block streets, for example when there is a fire.”