A New York City police detective who sued to join the police department at age 48 has retired 20 years later as the department’s oldest officer.

The Daily News reports that Detective Michael Cusumano retired Thursday at age 68.

Cusumano was working in his family’s kitchen and bath business when he decided to pursue his lifelong dream of joining the New York Police Department.

He passed the written and physical tests but was told he couldn’t enter the academy because the age limit for new recruits was 35.

Cusumano and 39 other older recruits filed a class action lawsuit seeking to join the force. They reached a settlement two years later that allowed them to join.

Cusumano says he became a police officer to “protect the weak from the strong.”

(AP)