Carlos Castro:  

Life I've been married since May 7, 1994 to my beautiful wife and fellow Police Officer Paula Castro. I have an 19 year old daughter, Christie, from my first marriage (what a disaster) and a 25 year old step son and a 4 year old boy who drives me nuts but I live for him. Those of you that know, knew or even remember me would remember that I've been in the martial arts since 9th grade. Well I'm still doing it. I taught Tae Kwon Do for a number of years but since 1988 I started training in Filipino Kali (Inosanto-Lacoste System), Silat, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do. I am presently an instructor in those systems at The Westchester Martial Arts Academy in Eastchester, NY. I also have an Instructorship in American Modern Arnis. I also study Sayoc Kali and am a NY Affiliate of the Giron Arnis Escrima System hoping to eventually reach Instructor levels in these arts. In 1995 I moved to Upstate NY (1 hour from Manhattan) after living in the Bronx for a few years. Besides my martial arts my other big hobby is riding my motorcycle. I own a 2002 Yamaha YZF 600R and hope to put on some major mileage this season. Living in upstate NY gives me access to some of the most beautiful mountain scenery in NY state. I still visit Uniondale from time to time because my parents still live there and my daughter lives in Elmont. A lot of changes going on in Uniondale. Some bad and some good but change is sometimes necessary and usually good. I hope that all of my fellow classmates are well. Workplace I worked quite a few jobs before joining the NYPD. One of the best was working for my father in his upholstery shop in Freeport. He taught me so much but during this time I was going through the process of trying to become a cop. Then on July 5, 1989 I was sworn in at Hunter College to become a NYC Police Officer. The police academy is like being in college except with more screaming. They're trying to toughen you up for the streets of new york, at least that is what they think they're doing. It works to a certain extent but the real learning is when you finally hit the streets. I graduated from the police academy on December 19, 1989 and was assigned to FTU-4 (Field Training Unit - 4) which consisted of the 19 pct (upper east side), 20 pct (upper west side), 23 pct (spanish harlem), and the Central Park Precinct. Except for the 23 pct. working in those other commands was very boring. I learned quite a bit from the veteran cops but my true on the job training would come when I finished my FTU training and got transferred to the 28 Precinct (Central Harlem) in August of 1990. This precinct became my home until February of this 2006. When I got to the two-eight (28 pct) it was like the wild west. There were shootings almost every day. For a rookie cop like me, at the time, I loved it. This is what I thought being a cop was all about. I learned and I learned fast. Yor life depended upon it. If you didn't you couldn't survive (mentally, em...Expand for more