A new round of recruits will graduate from the Dallas Police Academy later this week. As the cadets receive their badges, one of the department’s longest-serving members is preparing to hang his up. “I think it’s been a wonderful career,” said Senior Corporal Monty Moncibais. Moncib ais says he joined the force because he says he saw it as a stable job that would be needed in the future. “I wanted just to get into a job that I knew would be here tomorrow,” he said. His ‘tomorrows’ with the Dallas Police Department began in 1971 when Moncibais was just 19 years old. Now, at age 75, his reason for staying is different. “You realize, after you’ve been here as long as I have, that there’s some good people out there. Doesn’t matter where you are, what part of town, that believe in the law, believe in right and wrong, and support the police,” said Moncibais. From detective work to community relations to polygraph examiner, Moncibais has held several roles during his career. He even has an acting credit for landing an impromptu speaking role while working security for the 1990 movie Problem Child, which was filmed in Dallas. But his favorite role, he says, is patrol officer, a job he’ll hold until he retires in early February. “When it comes to the basics and the roots of police work, it’s patrol. You’re the first contact, the first people to get to where something’s happening,” said Moncibais. After 54 years on the force, thousands of calls, awards, and commendations, he says he feels now is the time to hang up his badge, 3162. “You know you’ve been here many years when a rookie says, ‘You came to my school and did the DARE program’. That’s elementary school!” Moncibais said with a chuckle. He says he plans to publish a book on his decades of experience, drawing from calls he responds to, which he documents every day in a notebook. “I record every one of my calls,” he said. He says he’ll also travel with his wife, Susan, and remain a reserve police officer. Moncibais is one of only two officers who have served DPD for more than 50 years since it was founded in 1881. ...read more read less