‘Pops’ Finds the Force Is With Him : Police Rookie at 53: The Time Is Right

When Lewis Ellis signed up as a Los Angeles Police Department recruit last year, his 32-year-old son was surprised, not to mention his 14-year-old grandson.

“They tried to talk me out of it,” admitted Ellis, 53, a supervisor at the Southern California Rapid Transit District for 19 years.

But Ellis figured his daily regimen of the last 25 years of 100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and five miles of running had prepared him physically for the job.

And he thought the time was right.

“My eight kids were grown,” he said during a break in a tear-gas exercise the other day. “If they were younger, I’m not sure it would have been right for me to quit a steady job (to try out for the Police Department). But now my baby daughter’s 20. . . .”

Still, the odd thing was that Ellis was not thinking of joining the force the day he picked up a department job application. It was supposed to be for his son.

‘No Age Limit Anymore’

“The lady behind the desk gave me a strange look,” Ellis recalled, “and I said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not for me.’ But she said, ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if it were. There’s no age limit anymore.’ ”

That’s when Ellis learned that the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the county’s age ceiling for sheriff’s deputies discriminatory, forcing both the sheriff’s and police departments to drop their 35-year-old limits.

“I kept the application for myself,” Lewis laughed. “My son later changed his mind (about signing up for the department) anyway.”

And Friday, the muscular, 6-foot-tall, 180-pound grandfather, carrying nary a gray hair nor an extra pound, will become the Police Academy’s oldest graduate ever, having endured six months of physical tests, pistol training, academic courses, “sit-sims” (simulated situations)--and needling from his classmates.

“Oh, yeah, we called him ‘Grandpa,’ ‘Pops’ and ‘Old Man,’ ” said fellow recruit Brian Powell, 23.

Initially, of course, department superiors had been skeptical upon learning that they had a 53-year-old rookie in the academy, even though Ellis was a reserve officer from 1972 to 1980.

54 in August

“One of the instructors later told me he’d heard there was an old man in the class, but when he looked us over, he had a hard time picking me out,” said Ellis, who, like a kid impatient with his current age, points out that he’ll be 54 in August.

But Ellis doesn’t just look young; he acts young.

He was delighted to learn he was required to do only 125 sit-ups to obtain the maximum score.

Classmate Cleveland Dale, 29, remembered, with a trace of awe in his voice: “When the times got hard, running up and down hills, he (Ellis) never had any problems.”

“I don’t mean to sound immodest,” said the soft-spoken Ellis, who holds a degree in public administratrion from California State University, Dominguez Hills, “but in the running, half of the class couldn’t keep up with me. The pistol training was more difficult. But the instructors worked hard with me.”

Inspiration to Class

Training Officer Norm Honadle, 43, said Ellis’ presence was “a good influence, an inspiration,” to the rest of the class.

“His wisdom was helpful,” fellow recruit Powell said. “He answered a lot of questions I had about life. Things like how to invest and manage money and what to expect as you get older.”

Ellis said he’s looking forward to police duty because “I like dealing with people, helping people in the community. And now I’ll be doing it full time.”

Following graduation, he’ll be assigned to a year of patrol duty, like any other rookie cop.

Well, maybe not any other rookie cop.

“I don’t think we’ll ever use him as an undercover agent in a high school,” said Police Lt. Dan Cooke.