Calgary Police Service. Insp. Frank Reuser was already a legend when I began writing for the Calgary Sun in 1998..While he’s set to retire May 1 after a distinguished and storied 46 years on the job, currently Calgary’s longest serving officer, stories about Reuser will be told in offices and squad cars for years to come..I remember him as gruff; a disciplined man who spoke his mind in no uncertain terms.. mikeCrime reporter Mike D’Amour .He also terrified most of the reporters in the city..That posed a problem because Reuser was often the 2900 — the call numbers of a cadre of duty inspectors who were connected to, and oversaw, all that was going on in Calgary while on shift — and often a reporter’s first call after hearing various police-related incidents that screeched from the wall of scanners in most newsrooms..Now, it was no secret the straight shootin’ Reuser did not easily suffer fools — a category into which we believed the seasoned copper put us all — and his gruff manner and zero tolerance for perceived BS was known to leave journalists shaking after hanging up the phone..On one particularly hectic day, I brought a tray of coffee into the newsroom as I began my shift. Hadn’t taken my seat when my editor at the time — the Western Standard’s own Dave Naylor — told me to call the duty inspector to check out something he’d heard on a scanner.. AFL launches website for people to boycott businesses that donated to UCP .I started to call, then my dialling finger stopped in mid-punch over the numbers of the phone. “Who,” I asked, “is the 2900 right now?” Naylor just smiled, and I knew..“OK, I said, “but I’m telling you if he’s an (expletive) to me one more time, I’m going to tell him where he can shove it and be done with it.”.I completed dialling and had barely introduced myself when Reuser laid into me for having the temerity to even contact him..That was it..I looked across my desk at Naylor, shrugged my shoulders and thought of all the nasty things with which I was going to blast that hard-headed cop..“Listen Frank …” I began. It was at that moment I looked down to see one unclaimed Timmy’s in the cardboard tray..“Listen Frank,” I continued, “would you like to come to the newsroom for a coffee?”.A long pause on the other end of the phone. “I’ll be there in 15,” Reuser snapped, before abruptly ending the call..He was at the paper in 14 minutes and — I swear this is true — all the chatter and other normal sounds heard in the newsroom stopped in that moment as everyone stared at the legendary cop..Reuser didn’t seem to notice and sat at the desk next to me, tore the plastic top from the paper cup and immediately laid into me..“You guys are lazy,” he said. “You call us, but can’t be bothered to get off your fat asses to check things out yourself.”.I explained to Reuser that without more staff, we had to pick and choose the calls we chased and calls to the 2900 were necessary to suss out the importance of the various reports we picked up on the scanners, or from from tips..Reuser and I went back and forth for a while, then settled into a conversation that lasted more than three hours..We shook hands when we parted, each with a better understanding of the other’s job. I’d like to say it was smooth sailing with the inspector after our visit, but it wasn’t..Yet I will say Frank toned it down a bit when we called, and we reporters became a little more circumspect when choosing stories to contact him about. Over the course of the next several years, I had plenty of contact with Reuser and found him to be thoughtful and sensitive..That became abundantly clear later on when I did a story about another inspector who was retiring. (Ring! Ring!) — “Hey Frank, it’s D’Amour,” I said. “What the hell do you want?” was the reply. “I’m calling about Pete’s retirement.” There was a brief pause, then Reuser started talking about his long-time pal..It was evident from the emotion in Reuser’s voice that he did indeed have a big heart. I haven’t seen Frank in many years now, but I like to believe that when he does hand in his weapon and tin, he’ll spend at least a little time standing in his front yard with a hose, terrorizing the young punks while telling them to get the hell off his lawn..Mike D’Amour was the former crime reporter for the Calgary Sun. He is now a freelance journalist living on Vancouver Island.
