5-Foot Grandmother Wears Badge of Determination

Barbara Schein is a grandmother at age 50. No news there, but add the fact that Schein has started her first full-time job--as a rookie police officer in North Haledon, N.J.--and you’ve got an arresting piece of nonfiction. Schein, who stands 5 feet tall, says her two weeks on the job in the North Jersey community have been uneventful, although passing the entry requirements was something else. “I’d never go through it again,” said Schein, who patrols the town in a cruiser. “If I wasn’t so stubborn, maybe I wouldn’t have made it, but I really wanted it. It was something I had to prove to myself and my chief. It’s something I wouldn’t dare think of not completing. They would have had to carry me out in a box.” Those trying times included 4 1/2 months of physical training at the Bergen County Police Academy with men half her age. Schein, who benefited from a state ruling lifting an age limit of 35 as discriminatory, prepared herself by running five miles a day and doing calisthenics. Through it all, her husband, Edward, has backed her all the way. And, Schein’s 6 1/2-year-old grandson “thinks it’s great” to have a grandmother who happens to be a police officer.

--John Demeter’s business is selling that very unusual something to the man--or woman--who has everything. There are an anti-kidnaping device, a hand-held stun gun at $58, night-vision gear, a bulletproof briefcase and telephone scramblers, just to name a few of the spy paraphernalia sold in the new Spy Shops International Inc. of Miami. Store owner Demeter, 40, who was an international security consultant for more than 10 years, said he sees a need for such devices because of the unsettling conditions in the world today. “People are worried about personal security and, lately, terrorists,” said Demeter, a Canadian. “This is something we needed around this area.” For large purchases, Demeter conducts his own security check. “I really screen them,” he said. “No terrorists, and only approved governments.”

--Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee A. Iacocca and his wife of eight months are calling it quits. Iacocca, 62, and Peggy Johnson, 35, have filed for divorce, although no reason was given. “For the good of all, I really can’t talk now,” Johnson said. “I am living in New York, and I plan on staying here.” Iacocca, vacationing in Florida with his mother, Antoinette, and daughter, Kathi Iacocca-Hentz, would not comment. The couple met while both were working for the Statue of Liberty Restoration Commission. Iacocca, whose first wife, Mary, died more than 3 1/2 years ago, was chairman of the commission.