47 YEARS LATER, HE'S BACK ON THE BEAT.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

At 73, a 12-hour shift for most men is 18 holes of golf and a long nap.

For John O'Toole - a cop who just keeps getting better with age like fine wine - it's getting back into a pair of uniform pants he hasn't worn since 1961, and hitting the streets again.

Forty years ago, this Valley Traffic Division detective-sergeant was one of the Los Angeles Police Department officers assigned to protect John F. Kennedy at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

Forty years later, after most of his fellow officers are retired and long gone, O'Toole's still on the job - out from behind a Van Nuys Division desk, and back in a patrol car this week with a female partner who wasn't even born yet in 1960.

With the crush of officers needed for security around Staples Center, many detectives put their old uniforms back on and filled in as patrol and traffic officers in other areas of the city this week.

``John is just incredible, he never slows down,'' says Officer Valerie Heacock, who has been in the department for seven years - only 40 shy of O'Toole. ``He's running me ragged out there answering calls.''

O'Toole's regular partner, Detective Bill Aurand, was still in high school back in '60 when John was sitting in a box at the old Sports Arena with Rose and Bobby Kennedy listening to JFK give his acceptance speech.

``When they came around looking for desk officers to volunteer working the convention this year, John was the first one with his hand up,'' Aurand says, laughing.

``He suits up every day, ready to go. We're all dragging, working 12-hour shifts this week. John just comes in every morning and says, 'Let's go.' He's incredible.''

With no mandatory retirement age in the LAPD, O'Toole plans to keep walking through the door to work every day, as long as he can find it.

In terms of seniority, he's the No. 1 cop in Los Angeles. When he took his oath in 1953, Ike was taking his. The Korean War had just ended, and the New York Yankees were wrapping up their fifth straight World Series.

But it was seven years later, at the 1960 convention, that L.A.'s No. 1 cop remembers as one of the best weeks of his long career.

The first time he laid eyes on Kennedy, the young senator from Massachusetts was not smiling.

``It was the Sunday before the convention started, and he was arriving at the Biltmore after doing a 90-minute 'Meet the Press' TV interview,'' O'Toole says.

``His motorcade screwed up. The first car stopped in the wrong place, and Kennedy was in the fourth or fifth car back. Everybody just started running, and we whisked him into the lobby quickly.

``He wasn't real happy about not being able to stop and shake some hands, and wave to the people,'' O'Toole says, laughing.

Inside, Kennedy met LAPD Chief William H. Parker, who explained to the front-running candidate all the security precautions that were being taken for his protection.

``As a candidate, he didn't have Secret Service protection yet,'' O'Toole says. ``He didn't get that until he won the nomination.''

About the only real protest O'Toole remembers from the '60 convention was the Adlai Stevenson supporters marching around the Sports Arena one afternoon, upset their man had not won the nomination.

``They had a drum, that was it. Not like today, where there's thousands of people protesting everything under the sun,'' he says. ``Compared to today, security back then was nothing.''

O'Toole, who lives in Studio City with his wife of 38 years, Rita, admits to a little deja vu this week, wishing he was down at Staples Center, instead of in a patrol car in the Valley handling crash investigations.

``Being out here is like being in another city, you're far removed from the center of activity,'' he says.

Still, it's been an interesting week being back in uniform. He found out he can still get into the same pants he wore on duty back in 1961, and that he hasn't lost a step out in the field.

``Monday, our first day out, we had a lot of calls, including a felony drunk driving where the guy had a head-on collision,'' Heacock says.

``I thought maybe John would get a little tired, but after 12 hours I was the one dragging,'' she adds, laughing. ``He was still fresh and ready to go a few more hours.''

It doesn't surprise Aurand. ``In 47 years on the department, John's taken one sick day,'' he says, shaking his head.

``He had a bad case of the flu back in 1955.''

Yeah, like fine wine, John O'Toole just keeps getting better with age.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. John O'Toole, center, stands guard over young presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Chief William H. Parker at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

(2) John O'Toole, a 47-year veteran of the LAPD now with the Van Nuys Division, is back in uniform and on patrol to help the department during the Democratic National Convention this week.

(3) no caption (Kennedy For President button)

Lexey Swall/Special to the Daily News