Cracking the Theft Rings: The story of a Cop at the Port of Halifax

Penetrating the organized theft rings at the Port of Halifax was job number one for Billy Taylor during his 31-year police career. Stevedores cart off whole gutted pigs, cargo watchmen and their buddies lift everything from copper ingots to shoes, and cops make off with clothing, plywood and anything that can be written off as damaged goods. Most waterfront workers and cops don't like him, but they don't cross him either. Taylor, a former wrestler, is a streetwise tough guy. It's alcoholism that nearly finishes him off. When he retires, Taylor finally gets No one strikes at the heart of port theft, and wins.

Billy Taylor, 76, was born in Halifax in 1932, grew up in poverty, dropped out of school in Grade Six, and became a wrestler. He didn't learn how to read and write until he was 25; his dyslexia was undiagnosed until he was in his fifties. Billy was a professional wrestler in Halifax and rural Nova Scotia in the 1940s and 1950s, and then started his dual career as a cop at the Port of Halifax, and wrestling referee on television. When the National Harbours Board was reorganized in 1968, Sergeant Taylor was the most senior member in Canada, and so he received the #1 badge. Because he attended numerous police training courses, he was knowledgeable in Criminal Investigation and Identification. The challenge of cracking the theft rings at the Port of Halifax is what got him out of bed in the morning. Soon after retiring in 1989, Billy began working as a private investigator, but alcoholism and the death of his wife sent him into a downward spiral. A study in resilience, Billy overcame poverty, illiteracy, dyslexia, alcoholism, and the deaths of his wife, a companion, and a son. He got on the path to recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous, and wrote the first draft of this book in the early 1990s. In Cracking the Theft Rings, Billy recounts one-of-a-kind stories about the wrestling business, the shenanigans of waterfront thieves during his 31 years as a port cop, and life's enormous challenges. It's a fast read, and a unique bird's eye view of the unvarnished side of port life at the street level.