Long Beach native Walter Munsterman still remembers going to City Hall in 1991 to take a civil service test to become a police officer in the city where he grew up. Over three decades later, he was honored on April 21 with the Nassau County Municipal Police Chiefs Association’s Distinguished Service Award.
The award recognizes individuals for outstanding service and contributions to law enforcement and public safety in the county. Munsterman, 54, who has 31 years of experience, was nominated by Long Beach Police Commissioner Richard DePalma.
“Walter has done such great work throughout his career that he deserved to be recognized,” DePalma said. “He’s an integral part of this department and a great leader.
Munsterman recalled that his old friend Lauren Crane encouraged him to take the civil service test. In 1995, Munsterman joined the Long Beach Police Department as a cadet alongside fellow officers Kenny Apple, Stefan Chernaski and John Roll. They trained at the Cross Street Academy, an elementary school in East Williston that also served as Nassau County’s police academy.
All four were hired by the LBPD on March 30, 1995, and graduated from the academy that November, part of a class of 186. In his early days as a police officer, Munsterman said, he soaked up knowledge from other officers like a sponge.
One crucial thing he learned was how to be on guard while also being human. Sometimes when a defendant was taken into custody, for instance, he might give him or her a hot cup of coffee — something most officers would not do. “You work for the people of Long Beach,” Munsterman said, “and one thing I’ve really held on to was treating everyone with respect.”
Beginning in 2003, he was assigned to the department’s Narcotics Task Force. One call, he remembered, involved a Long Beach man who attempted to evade police after a traffic stop. Munsterman said he and other officers chased the man in their patrol cars over the Long Beach Bridge into Island Park. Munsterman ran after the man along the railroad tracks, and along the way, he recalled, the man made two failed attempts to steal vehicles, and the two got into several altercations.
“I chased him for probably half a mile,” Munsterman said. “It was quite the chase.”
Munsterman and Chernaski, who’s now the department’s deputy inspector, patrolled the streets together as officers from 1995 to 2003. Munsterman was promoted to detective in 2005, and to sergeant in 2014.
Chernaski, a service award recipient in 1998, said that Munsterman deserved the award, and described him as a no-nonsense investigator and a compassionate human being. “He puts his heart and soul into the department,” Chernaski said. “I’m really proud of him.”
And Munsterman has always known how to have a little fun. When officers were asked to attend city or county court, he would prank them by standing outside the courtroom in uniform and making calls to their flip phones, which they had clipped to their belts. Chernaski called it a “classic Walter moment.”
DePalma said he learned a lot from Munsterman during their time on the Narcotics Task Force in 2004, when they were both officers. DePalma described him as detail-oriented and respectful, adding that Munsterman is a people person.
Decades ago, DePalma recalled, he and Munsterman were involved in a chase on Long Beach Road. Munsterman was in a squad car, and DePalma was pursuing on foot. At one point, Munsterman’s voice came over DePalma’s radio, warning him about an oncoming bus.
“Walter had a very distinctive voice,” DePalma said. “I would have been a pancake if I didn’t hear his voice. The bus was literally inches from my face and I never saw it.”
As a Long Beach grade-schooler in the late 1970s and ’80s, Munsterman said, he spent lots of time playing club sports, including youth hockey at the recreation center. He also remembers skateboarding back and forth from Long Beach to Hewlett with longtime friend Mike Durant.
These days, when he isn’t working, Musterman enjoys playing golf on courses across Long Island.
And, he said, he doesn’t notice as many kids hanging around on street corners as there used to be. “You don’t see kids outside a lot anymore,” he said. “Hopefully they’re busy doing something productive and staying out of trouble.”