It was eerie. I had just received a copy of retired Det. Al Sheppard’s book, “E-Man,” while sitting in a Brooklyn courtroom waiting for a hearing for convicted cop-killer Shahib Raheem when I flipped to the first chapter. It was about the killing of ESU officer Stephen Gilroy by Raheem and his gang at a sporting goods store in the 90 Pct. after a robbery went bad and turned into the longest hostage situation in department history. Now, sitting fifteen feet away was the killer Raheem, saying anything to win parole. Like I said: eerie.

“E-Man” is about the career of one of hundreds of police officers that opted for one of the most dangerous jobs in the NYPD. Like many New York City police officers, Al Sheppard, a former paratrooper, patrolled New York City streets in the bad old days of record-high crime. When the Black Liberation Army and the FALN were targeting cops with bullets and bombs, he was a detective in both the Major Case Squad and the Bomb Squad. But the ten years he spent in ESU is what he’s proudest of and hopes to be remembered for. That’s what his book is about. Besides wanting to help people — a desire that inspires many in law enforcement — he was an adrenaline junky, in law enforcement not only to serve but also for the excitement. He reveled in being the cop other cops turn to in their hour of need. And while he felt no compunction about shooting and killing a gunman who targeted his companion, he thrived on the thrill of accomplishment that accompanied his rescues. There were a countless number of them: the prosperous businessman depressed over family matters who was talked out of suicide from the George Washington Bridge; the old-woman EDP snatched from life-threatening danger as she clung precipitously to the superstructure of the viaduct eighty feet over the cobblestone streets of Riverside Drive; the Con Ed worker, struck by a car, lying prone in a manhole, bleeding from the head, perilously close to death by electrocution from sparking high-voltage electrical wires.

These and many other rescues make this account a cliff-hanging read. Al Sheppard’s career led him to Hollywood as a technical advisor on the original “Law and Order” series. And his work with others as an investigator became the basis of the NBC series “Prince Street.” But his fondest memories are of his days as an E-Man. And the book he wrote with Jerry Schmetterer, a veteran reporter and now press officer for the Brooklyn District Attorney, is well worth the read. “E-Man” by Al Sheppard and Jerry Schmetterer is available at Amazon.com and at bookstores everywhere. When a cop needs help... E-Man

“E-Man” is about the career of one of hundreds of police officers that opted for one of the most dangerous jobs in the NYPD. Like many New York City police officers, Al Sheppard, a former paratrooper, patrolled New York City streets in the bad old days of record-high crime. When the Black Liberation Army and the FALN were targeting cops with bullets and bombs, he was a detective in both the Major Case Squad and the Bomb Squad. But the ten years he spent in ESU is what he’s proudest of and hopes to be remembered for. That’s what his book is about.was eerie. I had just received a copy of retired Det. Al Sheppard’s book, “E-Man,” while sitting in a Brooklyn courtroom waiting for a hearing for convicted cop-killer Shahib Raheem when I flipped to the first chapter. It was about the killing of ESU officer Stephen Gilroy by Raheem and his gang at a sporting goods store in the 90 Pct. after a robbery went bad and turned into the longest hostage situation in department history. Now, sitting fifteen feet away was the killer Raheem, saying anything to win parole. Like I said: eerie.

Besides wanting to help people — a desire that inspires many in law enforcement — he was an adrenaline junky, in law enforcement not only to serve but also for the excitement. He reveled in being the cop other cops turn to in their hour of need.

And while he felt no compunction about shooting and killing a gunman who targeted his companion, he thrived on the thrill of accomplishment that accompanied his rescues. There were a countless number of them: the prosperous businessman depressed over family matters who was talked out of suicide from the George Washington Bridge; the old-woman EDP snatched from life-threatening danger as she clung precipitously to the superstructure of the viaduct eighty feet over the cobblestone streets of Riverside Drive; the Con Ed worker, struck by a car, lying prone in a manhole, bleeding from the head, perilously close to death by electrocution from sparking high-voltage electrical wires. These and many other rescues make this account a cliff-hanging read.

Al Sheppard’s career led him to Hollywood as a technical advisor on the original “Law and Order” series. And his work with others as an investigator became the basis of the NBC series “Prince Street.” But his fondest memories are of his days as an E-Man. And the book he wrote with Jerry Schmetterer, a veteran reporter and now press officer for the Brooklyn District Attorney, is well worth the read.

“E-Man” by Al Sheppard and Jerry Schmetterer is available at Amazon.com and at bookstores everywhere.