If you're a little bit confused about the difference between a police officer and a sheriff's deputy, go to my article Police and Sheriff's on my site at CareerPoliceOfficer.com. 

 

 

 

There's a lot of misconceptions about how one becomes a police detective.  I'm continually adding information to my site at careerpoliceofficer.com to provide young people insights on a police career. 

So, you’re seriously considering a job in law enforcement.  But, you have questions – What’s the job really like?  How do I apply?  Where can I find openings?  What is the process like?  How can I score the highest possible?

These are important questions.  Indeed, anyone who has gone through the application process for a law enforcement job knows it is critical to score as high as possible.  It’s your score that gets you in the door.  Remember – the highest scores are passed on to the next phase of the application process for a law enforcement job and they are the ones who ultimately become the cop on the beat, the homicide detective, SWAT or tactical officer; or, even a future chief of police.

But, those dreams never happen if you don’t score as well as possible.  Every cop gets asked these questions and two of them have taken the time to write down the answers.  First, the Police Officer Exam, 3^rd Edition, was edited by Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA.  Many of the questions were updated to reflect current testing.  More importantly, entire passages were re-written or developed to give you practical, down-to-earth advice on the process.  Detective Lieutenant Barry Baker, Baltimore Police Department (ret.), has written “Becoming a Police Officer: An Insider’s Guide to a Career in Law Enforcement.”   Lieutenant Baker’s book not only helps you with the process, but helps to visualize your career and to make that career happen.

Lieutenants Foster and Baker give you a coast-to-coast perspective on a career in law enforcement and the one-two punch you need to score high, get the job and begin your career.  You need both books to be successful. Order both books today!

I've noticed from traffic to my site at careerpoliceofficer.com that a lot of people are interested in police report writing.  It's not that complicated; although, a lot of police officers seem to make it that way.  I've added additional content, so stop by and check it out.

January 6, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) With the addition of four new authors, Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, reached 225 state and local police officers who have written books; and, pushed the total number of books written by those officers to 606.

Retired NYPD Captain Tom Walker’s Fort Apache, Bronx, NY was written during the early 1970's.  According to one reviewer, “Fort Apache captures in vivid detail what it was like to work in the then busiest and deadliest precinct in New York. Walker describes the neighborhood and the cops who police it with uncanny accuracy. You will ride along with him to shootings, stabbings, muggings, and homicides. Walker captures the frustration and the dedication of the cops assigned to the 41st as they race from call to call in the seemingly endless parade of crime. A must read for those who enjoy true police stories.”  Walker followed up years later with “Death of a Bronx Cop,” a true story about survival and love in the face of tragedy by a fourth-generation New York city police officer.  In this book, Walker writes: "In the days, months and years to come, more New York City police will die. The official cause of death will be listed as suicide, heart attack, even homicide. In truth, the death certificate should read 'Organizational Murder--N.Y.C.P.D.'"

The author of 7 books, Bob Weir is a New York Police Department sergeant, with over ten years of undercover investigations and over 500 felony arrests to his credit.  His first book, “City To Die For” chronicles the attempted takeover of Dallas, Texas by the Mafia in the 1940's. Bob also wrote, “Powers That Be,” a story of government collusion with organized crime, and “Ruthie's Kids,” his account of growing up poor in NYC; as well as three other powerful novels.

B. J. Whalen is a father and son writing team. The son, Bernard Whalen, is a lieutenant in the New York Police Department with more than eighteen years of service. During his career he has worked in New York City's Harlem, East Side, and Chinatown and in the plainclothes Anti-Crime Unit. He has sixteen department recognition awards, including two Commendations, and is a member of the NYPD Honor Legion.

His father, Jon Whalen, retired as a teacher from Manhasset High School on Long Island after thirty years in the classroom. While attending college, he worked as a New York State corrections officer at Sing Sing and Auburn prisons. He served four years in the U.S. Army 3rd Armored Cav. Regt. in Germany. Together, the father and son teamed pen their first novel, “Justifiable Homicide.” 

Leo Whittlesey published his first novel entitled, End of Tour. The book is a fast-paced, suspense-filled tale of a New York mob kid, Frank Horan, turned cop who finds himself trapped in a massive corruption scheme and the main suspect in multiple murders. Frank is forced to use his mob connections and street smarts to extricate himself from the morass that his life has become at the hands of gangsters, cops and his own poor judgment.  Leo lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and two sons. He is an attorney and has also been a New York City police officer and small business owner.

While Police-Writers.com hosts 225 police officers (representing over 70 police departments) and their 606 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors and international police officers who have written books.

If you're considering becoming a police officer, you're certainly going to be interested in a police department that offers you a good salary and benefits package.  I've linked you directly to the salaries and benefits pages of some of the nations largest police department.

October 18, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added its 500^th book written by a state or local police officer.

 

Today, David Reichert is a member of the United States House of Representatives.  But, in 1982 he was a homicide detective in the King County Sheriff’s Office.  His book, “Chasing The Devil: My Twenty-year Quest To Capture The Green River Killer,” begins in 1982 when the bodies of three women were found in and near the Green River, in suburban Seattle.  Twenty years later, DNA evidence linked Gary Ridgway to the first victims; and Ridgway would ultimately confessed to killing 53 women.  David Reichert, by the time of Ridgway’s arrest was the King County Sheriff.  Reichert would close a “case that many thought would never be solved. His absorbing account offers an in-depth look at the obstacles and the frustrations; and, the leads that went nowhere and the prime suspects who were eventually cleared.”

 

David Reichert was born August 29, 1950 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. His family moved to Washington in 1951 living first in Renton. Later, they moved to Kent, where he attended Kent Meridian High School. In 1970, Reichert earned an Associates degree from Concordia Lutheran College in Portland, Oregon.  From 1971 through 1976, Reichert was a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

 

David Reichert joined the King County Sheriff's Office 1972.  While a member of the Sheriff’s Department he was the commander of several prestige units such as SWAT, hostage negotiation, bomb disposal, traffic and an acting commanding officer in the  internal investigations unit. Reichert was a leading member of the Green River Task Force, which was formed to track down the "Green River Killer."  Between 1984 and 1989, he and his partner Robert Keppel extensively interviewed Ted Bundy, in order to develop a psychological profile of the Green River killer.

 

In 1997 he became its first elected, non-partisan, King County Sheriff in 30 years. He served two terms as Sheriff  and won the 2004 National Sheriffs' Association's Sheriff of the Year award. In 2004 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

 

Recognizing Reichert’s valuable experience and unique perspective as a veteran law enforcement officer, Rep. Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, appointed Reichert as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology. Reichert is only the sixth freshman in the history of the House of Representatives to be given a committee chairmanship.

 

The Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology has jurisdiction over all aspects of emergency preparedness, including national exercises and training for terrorist attacks, coordination between federal, state and local governments and the private sector in terrorism preparedness, and research and development of new technologies for combating terrorism. Reichert is also Vice-Chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The Chairmanships empower Reichert to utilize the vast knowledge he has acquired in over thirty years in law enforcement.

 

 

Known to the mundane world as Detective Constable Charles A. Ennis, a former child abuse investigator for the Vancouver (British Columbia) Police Department and author of several articles on child abuse investigation that appeared in Law & Order Magazine, he is better known to the Pagan community by his Wiccan name, Kerr Cuhulain.  Ennis was the first Wiccan police officer to go public about his beliefs 28 years ago. Kerr is now the Preceptor General of Officers of Avalon.  Kerr went on to write four books: “The Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca,” “Wiccan Warrior,”  “Full Contact Magick” and “Witch Hunts: Out of the Broom Closet.”

 

Police-Writers.com now lists 121 police officers and their 369 books in six categories.

September 2, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added its 100th police author, Frank Desario (Boston Police Department), Donovan Jacobs (San Diego Police Department) and Samuel Clark (San Diego Police Department.

 

Frank DeSario, in his book, “Badge #1 - Memoirs of a Boston Cop,” shares his almost forty year career in a vivid account of his experiences with the Boston Police Department. The Mafia, the gangland slayings, the Combat Zone, bussing and the resulting racial issues and riots, the thugs and the corruption are all discussed with a first hand look at the events. Frank also shares the glamorous side of his job which included escorting high profile celebrities, religious leaders and political leaders during their visits to the Boston area. The photos are vivid but give the reader a close look at what it was like to be a cop in Boston during the last four decades.

 

According to one reader, Michael j. Horne, Frank DeSario’s book is a”fantastic account from a first hand perspective of what it is like to patrol the streets during the past 4 decades. Frank DeSario is a local hero and all should have the pleasure of reading the memoirs of his illustrious career.”

 

Donovan Jacobs, a retired San Diego police officer takes the reader to the frontline on crime in San Diego in, “Street Cop: Innovative Tactics For Taking Back The Streets.” According to Jacobs’ book, “The patrol officer fighting crime on the battlefield of today's city streets must be relentless in the pursuit of criminals, maximizing his time on beat to focus on the source of pain and hurt in society - the career criminal, from the ex-con to the gang member to the junkie.”  Jacobs, a police officer who has endured the worst of what the streets have to offer, goes beyond what is taught in the academy or in officer's training. Donovan Jacobs condenses years of experience and presents officers with innovative, proactive tactics for apprehending gangsters, auto thieves, junkies, convicts, fleeing suspects, and other criminals.

Samuel Clark was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Samuel Clark joined the Newark Police Department on November 20, 1972.  During his 25 years with the police department, Clark has worked as a police officer in the patrol division, a detective assigned to the juvenile bureau and has variety of investigations ranging from harassment to homicide.  He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1994 and to lieutenant in 1997.

Samuel Clark’s book, “Total Misconduct”, presents a detailed account of corruption and official misconduct within the Newark Police D. To some, the shocking events described in this book may appear to be exaggerated. Unfortunately, they are not. Clark worked with a handful of brave police officers to expose the existence of wide spread police corruption in the Newark Police Department. These officers presented documentary evidence of serious police corruption to local and state politicians, a county prosecutor, the State Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney General, and the FBI.

Clark’s book asks, “Why did elected officials and government law enforcement agencies ignore the evidence and the complaints of serious police corruption from over 26 credible and reliable police officers?”  Samuel Clark presents facts, official police documents and report numbers, court transcript excerpts and case numbers, and newspaper accounts, enabling the reader to make his/her own conclusions.

Police-Writers.com now lists 103 police authors and their 316 books in six categories.

 

 

September 2, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added its 100th police author, Richard Rosenthal.  Richard is the Chief of Police the Wellfleet Police Department, Massachusetts, a town located halfway between the "tip" and "elbow" of Cape Cod. 

 

Before becoming Chief of Police in Wellfleet, Chief Rosenthal spent twenty years in the New York Police Department, where he ran the Heavy Weapons and Undercover Weapons Training programs and, as a detective in the Bronx dealt with homicide, narcotics, and armed robbery. Before joining the NYPD, he worked for U.S. Air Force military intelligence as a Russian language specialist.  In addition to being the chief of police, he is the author of four books.  His latest book, published in 2000, is titled “Rookie Cop: Deep Undercover in the Jewish Defense League.”

 

According to Kirkus reviews, it is "a strange true tale of a Jewish NYPD cadet recruited into the department's elite intelligence unit to spy on the Jewish Defense League, offering vivid portraits of a politically incendiary era and revealing secrets of intrusive police tactics.  This is a well-tuned portrait of the stress and acrimony that permeates such radical cliques, and of the lonely, paranoid personalities at their centers - and it offers insights into the radically charged violence of the early 1970s. Rosenthal has a fine eye for human detail and a cop's mordant sensibility. Altogether an exciting tale of unusual police practices, and a solid portrait of a quintessential fringe radical group inhabiting insecure, volatile times.”

 

His other works include two books on policing, “Sky Cops: Stories from America’s Airborne Police” and “K-9 Cops;” and, one novel – “The Murder of Old Comrades.” According to the Wall Street Journal, his novel is "a spicy police procedural about KGB assassins on the loose in Manhattan.” 

 

Police-Writers.com now lists 100 police authors and their 313 books in six categories.  Police officers have written a wide range of books.  Some are widely used by universities and colleges to teach in criminal justice, law enforcement, police technology and leadership.  Other police authors have concentrate on the police procedural genre in novels, adding realism that readers won’t find elsewhere.  Still other give readers a police officers insight into true crime and life on the beat.  But there are also books on poetry – if the author was a police officer you will find it on Police-Writers.com.

September 2, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added its 99th police author, John Hogan.  John grew up in small town in Burlington Country, New Jersey with a single goal – to become a trooper with the New Jersey State Police.  As one reader of Hogan’s work remarked, “it took John years to become a trooper and seconds to lose his job.”

 

John Hogan joined the New Jersey State Police in 1993 as a member of the 113^th recruit class.  Seven years later, as he patrolled the infamous New Jersey State turnpike he would find himself in the center of a controversial shooting.  Hogan observed that he “was immediately labeled a racist and cast as the poster boy for racial profiling throughout the country.”  John Hogan’s book, “Turnpike Trooper: Racial Profiling & the New Jersey State Police,” is his personal account of the five years following the shooting.

 

A recent reader of the book remarked, “Trooper Hogan gives an inside look into the New Jersey State Police and the circus-like atmosphere that erupted following the shooting which occurred in the midst of allegations of racial profiling. None of us can know exactly what went down that fateful night, but there is no question that Troopers Hogan and Kenna became pawns in a political dance and power struggle between the Governor and State Attorney General.”

 

You will have to read for yourself and decide if the troopers violated policy and should have been disciplined; and, did the State of New Jersey unnecessarily try Hogan and his partner for attempted murder.

 

Police-Writers.com now lists 99 police authors and their 309 books in six categories.

September 2, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added its 98th police author, Robert Leuci.  Leuci joined the New York Police Department in 1961.  Readers are likely familiar with some of the story of Leuci’s career because part of it was told in the best-selling book and movie “Prince of the City.”  As a narcotics detective, Leuci worked undercover for prosecutors investigating police corruption in the 1970s New York Police Department.

 

Robert Leuci retired from the New York Police Department in 1981.  He began a second career as a writer, lecturer and teacher.  Leuci is frequently called upon to lecture at universities, law schools and police academies on police corruption.  In addition to his writing, he is an adjunct professor of English and Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.

 

In his most recent book, “All Thee Centurions: A New York City Cop Remembers His Years on the Street, 1961-1981,” Leuci fleshes out the details of his role in “Prince of City.”  On reviewer rather harshly noted that Leuci “traces in detail the incremental steps that turned him from a naïve and idealistic beat cop into an arrogant dirty one, who easily rationalized ripping off drug dealers and playing along with rampant graft. To his credit, Leuci doesn't sugarcoat or paper over his lies, his betrayal of the public and his family, or pretend that he was unaware at the time that what he was doing was wrong. These flaws make him a classic tragic figure, especially when he begins to make a belated effort to redeem himself by cooperating with the Knapp Commission.”  A second reviewer was somewhat kinder when he commented Robert Leuci’s newest novel was “as vivid and entertaining as the best crime novels, All the Centurions is the story of a man descending into a hell of his own making who ultimately finds his way out through truth and justice.”

 

In addition to “All Thee Centurions: A New York City Cop Remembers His Years on the Street, 1961-1981,” Robert Leuci has authored for fictional crime novels, Blaze, Snitch, Fence Jumpers and Renegades.

 

Police-Writers.com now lists 98 police authors and their 308 books in six categories.

September 1, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added its 96th police author, Dr. Wayne Ford.  Dr. Ford is a former Oakland Police Department officer.  After his 3-year enlistment in the United States Army he joined the Concord Police Department (California), in 1967.  He stayed at Concord for seven months before joining the Oakland Police Department (California).  During his seventeen years in law enforcement he would serve as a police officer, training officer, sergeant and investigator.

 

Dr. Wayne Ford’s experiences in law enforcement and his education are the genesis of his writings.  For instance, as a police officer he was involved in a number of stressful incidents such as a lethal-force confrontation with a shotgun wielding suspect.  Wayne prevailed in that confrontation, killing the suspect. Later, in 1975, Dr. Wayne Ford had a heart attack while on-duty.

 

In addition to his writing, his post-policing career has included teaching and lecturing at the university level and his work with The Management Advantage, Inc., a consulting firm where he is a vice president. Ford’s writings have concentrated business and organizational management and leadership; and, stress management.  His book on Managing Police Stress, teaches police professionals how to deal with the stress of gun battles, high-speed pursuits, confrontations, riots, and other disasters. According to the book, personal health and job effectiveness are at risk if these stresses are not properly managed. The book contains an explanation of the eight unique combinations of stress felt by every law enforcement officer, and how to effectively cope.

 

While Ford’s solid writing on management issues is his hallmark, his most recent work, Soldier of the City, is an autobiographical account of policing in Oakland, California during the 1970s. In November 2004, The Northern Peace Officer (A Publication of the Alaska Peace Officers Association), reviewed Ford’s Soldier of the City, saying, “Return with Oakland Police Sergeant Wayne Ford to a time in Oakland, California, when crime was rampant, the public was afraid, and the police stood in between. Experience episodes of humor, tragedy, and courage told in a forthright and entertaining style.”

 

Police-Writers.com now lists 96 police authors and their 301 books in six categories.

  

Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.) MBA, is the CEO of Criminal Justice Online, and he is the author of Police Technology (Prentice Hall, July 2004).  During his twenty-four years with the Los Angeles Police Department he worked ten geographic areas; including Newton, 77th and Southwest Areas. In addition to patrol, Lieutenant Foster worked specialized assignments such as communications, traffic, community relations and fugitives. Raymond has a BA in Criminal Justice Management, a Masters in Public Finance and is currently finishing his doctoral studies.

 

Raymond's current major project is co-authoring the upcoming book, Homeland Security and the New Threats of Global Terrorism: From Cold War to Flaming-Hot War (Prentice Hall, February 2007) with Major General Dror Itzhaki, Israeli Security Agency (ret), a senior Israeli expert on security, protection, operations and prevention of criminal and terror acts, and Dr. Reuven Paz, Ph.D., an Israeli expert on militant and radical Islam and Islamist movements. Additionally, he is in contract negotiations on a third book - An Introduction to Policing.

 

About the Book:  Police TechnologyFor Computers in Criminal Justice, Police Technology, Introductory Cybercrime and Introductory Crime Analysis courses as well as courses in Management of Public Information Systems.The only book of its kind available today, Police Technology is an up-to-date, practical examination of information technology in law enforcement. Through the lens of common criminal justice themes such as community policing, fragmentation, and other criminological theories, it tackles the broad field of information technology systematically - it starts with a basic introduction to computers, explores police communications technology, and presents cutting-edge strategic and tactical technology used by police to predict, investigate and prevent crime.

 

Reviews

 

"Police Technology offers, hands-down, the most thorough, up-to-date, state-of-the-art coverage of current and emerging technologies." — Samuel Nunn, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

 

"Police Technology "is truly a one-stop-shop technology overview, whether the student is a basic police recruit; a midlevel manager who now realizes he or she must be `up' on ail this or become irrelevant; or, a chief or sheriff who aspires to truly understand his or her agency's technology plan and how to successfully manage it to reach important departmental and community goals." — Dave Pettinari, Pueblo County (Colorado) Sheriff's Office

 

"Police Technology reflects a great deal of research and insight into the combined areas of Information Technology and Law Enforcement Management of Technology." — Wayne Eveland (Captain, New Jersey State Police, Retired), Director Of Technical Marketing, Motorola"Police Technology "is well-researched, well-written, welt-referenced, and provides exceptionally clear and appropriate examples." — William L. Tafoya, University Of New Haven