Two Cops, a Fed and Scientist

olice-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added two police officers, one federal agent and a civilian police writer. Added to the growing list of writers are: William Camp, Don Howell, Michael E. Grimes and Ken Goddard.

According to Jim Doherty, William Camp was a deputy sheriff for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Camp wrote two novels Night Beat and The Jacob Park Killings.” In Night Beat, Camp recounts a rookie police officer’s first night on patrol. In The Jacob Park Killings, Camp’s story is about a murder investigation that uncovers a corrupt police force. Doherty says, the location is given the fictional names of “Sedona County,” but Camp is clearly writing about Los Angeles County.

Don Howell graduated with honors with a degree in Police Science and Administration. He spent 25 years as a police officer for two different agencies in Southern California cities, retiring from the Huntington Beach Police Department. As a detective for more than 15 years, he specialized in the investigation of sexual assaults and child abuse. He is a court certified expert in these areas and is a highly sought after consultant to agencies on complex cases.

His book, Interviewing Sex Crime Victims, was strongly endorsed by John Walsh, the host of America's Most Wanted; and, has been recommended by law enforcement professionals, social workers and educators. Howell’s book presents a step-by-step formula for interviewing sex crime victims, particularly children. The non-threatening method of interviewing children shown in the book is quickly becoming the "standard" for these difficult investigations. This book introduces the "team" approach to sex crimes investigation, demonstrating the success of blending law enforcement officers and social workers, working together, to solve the crime and protect the victim.

Michael E. Grimes spent 28 years with the United States Department of Justice in law enforcement. He began his career with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and continued as a Special Agent when the organization became the Drug Enforcement Administration. He spent his entire career either working in the field as an agent or supervising field agents. As a field agent and supervisor he dealt with hundreds of informants and saw most, if not all, mistakes that can be made by law enforcement officers in dealing with informants. In 1980, Agent Grimes began sharing his observations with other law enforcement officers and has since lectured extensively to federal, state, and local police officers and agents nationwide.

His book, A Guide for Developing and Controlling Informants, “is vital to the success of the drug enforcement operations of any law enforcement agency.” According to the book description, “rarely can a drug case be developed without the services of informants at some stage of the investigation. This is why knowing the proper procedures for handling informants is important for police officers. The material in this manual was developed through the misfortune of many who have used informants. Use of the manual will help maintain the integrity of the department, the controlling officer and the investigation. Police departments that do not set-up and maintain a standardized system for the development and control of informants will be subject to intense scrutiny and criticism by the courts and the community.”

Ken Goddard was a deputy sheriff/criminalist with the Riverside (CA) Sheriff's office (1968-69); a deputy sheriff/criminalist with the San Bernardino (CA) Sheriff's office (1969-72); Scientific Investigation Bureau (civilian) Supervisor and Chief Criminalist for the Huntington Beach Police Department (1972-79); Forensic Science Branch Chief (civilian) and 'tech agent' (carried a badge and gun for self-protection at remote scenes, but did not have arrest authority) for the US Fish & Wildlife Service (1979-86); and National Fish & Wildlife Forensics Lab director (civilian)(1986 to present).

Ken Goddard has written and published two non-fiction books: Crime Scene Investigation and Weaponless Control. Additionally, he has written eight fiction thrillers: Balefire, The Alchemist, Digger/Cheater, Prey, Wildfire, Double Blind, First Evidence and Outer Perimeter

Currently, he is writing a third book in the First Evidence series for Bantam, and has been hired by Pocket Books to take over a series of fiction novels based on the TV series CSI written by Max Collins.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 326 police officers (representing 139 police departments) and their 746 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.