A retired Yonkers police deputy chief wrote a detailed book about every officer who worked at the police department from 1871 to 1971.

George Rutledge, who is also the founder of the Yonkers Police Department Museum, used information he garnered over the years to write his book.

The idea for the book happened after a chance encounter that then-patrolmen Rutledge had with a retired officer who felt he had been forgotten.

"He said, ‘Well I retired from the police department after 35 years, and nobody remembers me and they never spoke to me again,’” says Rutledge.

That’s when Rutledge began his lifelong mission to make sure every officer who worked for the department for the first 100 years was not forgotten.

“I just want these people to be remembered. They sacrificed so much, and have been completely forgotten,” he says.

"Brass Buttons, Blue Coats” is over 1,000 pages and weighs more than 6 pounds. Rutledge says it took him more than 20 years to write.