A crowd of more than a 100 law enforcement officers and government officials turned out June 23 at Albemarle County’s police headquarters to wish a happy retirement to master policeman Larry Claytor, a 35-year veteran whose customary beat was western Albemarle. He was one of three active policemen who were original members of the department when it was formed in 1984.

Bagpipers and an honor guard announced the beginning of the ceremony. County Executive Bob Tucker presented Claytor with a plaque honoring his 35 years and credited him with displaying energy and dedication. General Assembly Delegate Rob Bell gave Claytor a Virginia flag that had been flown over the capitol in Richmond specifically in his honor.

“There is no way to be a police officer for 35 years without a deep commitment to serving the community,” Bell said. “You did it for all the right reasons.”

Police chief John Miller credited Claytor with a critical role in developing the department’s skills efficiency plan for advancing officers for merit. He gave a Claytor an ID card that allows him to carry a concealed weapon anywhere in the United States and then he gave Claytor the pistol he has worn on the job. But first Claytor had to sign for it. Then Miller gave him a display case containing his shoulder patches and badges.

Capt. John Teixeira called Claytor “The person of forensics in Albemarle.” He noted that his personnel file was four inches thick and included more than 100 letters of commendation. One sheet contained an admonishment for having arrived for work late once and that one was being removed so that Claytor’s file would be spotless, Teixeira said. He said Claytor came the closest of anyone he knew to exemplifying the “Blue Knight” style of policeman popularized in the police novels of Joseph Wambaugh. “He knew his beat and he could be trusted to make the right judgments,” Teixeira said. “He was always true to himself in speaking up in the deprtment,” he added.

Claytor found a fingerprint on a cassette tape that was crucial to a murder conviction in a 1990 Earlysville killing, Teixeira said. He also refrained from shooting a robbery suspect during a stakeout. Because Claytor had realized the identity of the robber, he was picked up later when there was less chance an innocent person might have been hit. “He always kept his humanity,” Teixeira said.

Claytor is also being given a custom-made, 1/24 scale model of his police car, but it had not arrived in time for presentation the ceremony.

His fellow dive team members gave him a cane sporting toddler flotation bands and a snorkel. The “breakfast club,” a group of other officers that ate together to start their shift, presented him with large-size boxes of his favorite breakfast foods, notably grits, potatoes, sausage gravy, biscuit mix, grape jelly and packets of decaffeinated coffee and dehydrated half-and-half. A rubber chicken was a stand-in for his favorite food. “God bless you,” he was told to a round of applause.

Accepting their thanks, Claytor told the crowd that “Your heart races when you go on calls.”

The stress of the job, and the upsetting sights it can bring, can be too much for some, he said. “I’ve done CPR on infants in car wrecks, I’ve been there.

“By the grace of God, I’m OK. You have to have an outlook, a way to get away from police work,” he said. It was partly because he had made it as far as he had without psychological effects that he wanted to retire now, he said. A friend of his had been murdered when he was young and that experience was what motivated him to go into evidence collection. The goal is the conviction of the criminal, he reminded the group. “I’ve got the best buddies in the world in this room. I rejoice and I’m glad in the day.”

His tour of duty was officially closed with a call to all cars over the police radio system, declaring that Claytor had stood down for retirement.

Claytor’s wife Debbie teared up as the ceremony ended. Also present were his sons Michael, Jonathan and Chris. The theme music from “The Andy Griffth Show” was played to accompany a series of slides showing Claytor at different stages in his career. A light reception followed.