Fiancee and I just moved to the San Antonio region and she became friendly with our  realtor. The realtor's husband is local PD and we are going to his retirement event this weekend.  

Neither of us have ever been to this sort of event and I was wondering if any of my fellow arfcommers that are on the job can give me an idea of what to expect and what would be a good gift to bring?  It sounds like it will be a somewhat big event... cocktails first, then the dinner and music/dancing afterwards.  Feel free to PM me if you have any tips!  Thanks in advance!

Delete.
Thought this was GD.

I suspect the cops will hang out with the cops and you'll be there bored out of your mind.

Most likely this.  I imagine a cop party is like an EMS party, minus the cops getting called later on when it gets too wild.  The cops will be on one end talking about their lives and the job, while everyone else is on the other end talking about something else.  Replace cops with EMS/fire/ nurses, they are all similar parties, except the ER nurse parties are more fun as they like to have fun, drink, and are typically pretty good looking too.

Drinking, card playing, and war stories.

This^^^ but not so much card playing, mostly drinking and war stories.

I've been to several, all pretty much the same.

As for gifts, normally not necessary. A card is a nice way to say congrats and be remembered if you are new to the area. A gift is a nice gesture, especially for the new guy in town. Have the wife find out what he plans to do in retirement. Going to be a full time golfer? A gift card to a sports store with a note like "buy some new balls, on me". Weekend fishing from now on? Gift card with "I know you're retired, but those bass look kind of fishy, better go catch 'em"...


For a new non-cop neighbor, any gesture, including just showing up will be appreciated.

I just held my retirement party today. It was informal, no gifts requested, however just about everyone brought something. I received quite a few bottles of liquor, some cigars, a very nice cigar cutter, a couple of gift certificates and a box of serious anti-social .223 ammunition. It helped that with few exceptions everyone knew what I liked or checked with my daughter who put the party together

Lots of alcohol and stories that start "when I worked patrol we could......"

I avoided cop gatherings as best as I could over the years.

There was a bar in Washington Heights (Coogan's) that had hundreds of retirement parties and similar festivities.. right next to a major hospital, tons of nurses (5 nurses...3 tons)

Instead of a cloak room, you'd deposit your career, pension, and family status into a shoebox up front.

His wife should be a source for gift ideas.
Understand that you probably are not going to be in the group or at the tables where the cops are gathering telling war stories for reasons which should be obvious. Don't be offended by this but I wouldn't try to be a social butterfly, nor would I eavesdrop on or insert myself into conversations that are already steaming along.

That doesn't mean you can''t talk to anyone one on one or get a conversation rolling yourselves with other people, just use your head. The fact that you have been invited is a pretty big deal, your realtor must see you two as potential long term friends.

I served 26 years. My retirement party consisted of 90%
cops I'd worked with, a couple of prosecutors and Fire Battalion Chiefs, and my wife and adult sons.

Have fun, and enjoy the experience.

Drinking, lots of drinking and pranking stories that couldn't be told.