"Police work is high stakes, all the time," says Armen Garo, who retired from the East Providence police department a few years ago, when he hit the mandatory retirement age of 60. "There's no such thing as a routine call."

"No such thing as routine" would be an excellent description of Garo's professional life, which has carried him from academia and athletics, to cab driving, to theater, to police work to an HBO soundstage.

Growing up in Troy, New York, Garo, born Armen Garo Harmaian to Armenian parents, was a standout student-athlete who also excelled in theater. As a would-be actor and cab driver in late-1970's New York, he escaped from the frustration of laboriously chasing down acting roles (in the before-internet epoch), came to Rhode Island, and trained in self defense at George Pesare’s Karate Institute in Providence. He earned his black belt and, characteristically,  became accomplished enough to not only instruct, but earn the title of New England Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion in 1978.

The Karate Institute was a popular place for local police officers to train in weapon retention, handcuffing, and other hands-on job skills. Garo met a lot of officers, he liked them, and in his late 20's, he found himself in the market for a more permanent career. Police work turned out to be a great fit; a challenge Garo relished and excelled at as he had in pretty much every other area of his life. He world spend 30 years on the force, serving the people of East Providence. He rose through the ranks to Lieutenant, serving as a Shift Commander in the Uniformed Patrol Division.

But he never stopped acting; he never let his membership in the trade unions lapse. He continued to work, when and where he could, on short assignments and in his time off. And he grew as an actor, becoming involved with Trinity Square (Now Trinity Rep) and the incredible talent that built the theater Rhode Island enjoys today.

Police work and theater may not, at first blush, seem like careers that would simultaneously appeal to the same person, but both jobs tap into two of Garo's greatest strengths: he is a great communicator, and he is exactly who he claims to be.

"Honest, truthful, fair, and transparent," Garo says, listing the qualities needed to be a relatable officer and a believable actor. "Whatever work you do, you have to make it believable. You have to give people their fair due—especially in police work. Unlike the theater, no one's paying to sit in a seat. They have to be there. The audience is very different, but either way, they're placing their trust in you."

Garo's respect for people's trust has played well on stage and screen, small and silver; his long list of credits includes roles on "The Sopranos," "Brotherhood," and in Martin Scorcese's "The Departed." His latest role, as New York mob boss Corrado Galasso, in HBO's new drama "Vinyl," will debut this Sunday, Valentine's Day, at 9 p.m. on HBO.

With Garo the retiree enjoying the freedom to tackle projects that Lieutenant Garo would not have been able to pursue, he's come full circle from those days of driving a cab around New York City, with a stack of head shots waiting to be distributed. Surrounded, as ever, by colleagues he respects and enjoys working with, Garo is full of gratitude and enthusiasm for what's to come. "I'm truly where I belong," he says. "I'm doing what I always dreamed I would do."