Her boyfriend, she said, is a retired lieutenant who stayed on the job for 31 years.

Mr. Rachko, officials say, has implicated two other detectives and a retired lieutenant, causing a new round of astonishment among department veterans.

Mr. Maguire, the retired lieutenant, did not return a call.

The idea of a limited war is folly, writes V. R. Raghavan, a retired lieutenant general and now a defense analyst.

"The department had no interest in investigating the Family or its activities," said Daniel Wood, a retired lieutenant.

"What amazes me," said Mr. Wood, the retired lieutenant, "is that they have gotten away with this for so many years."

He became a firefighter like his father, a retired lieutenant, and loved his work at Squad 252 in Brooklyn.

Lhota is the son of a retired lieutenant in the NYPD.

"You get into conversations with people who are inside," said, Mr. Harper, the retired lieutenant.

Backe was born in Batumi, Georgia, the son of a retired Prussian lieutenant turned trader.