Tuesday, February 27, 2007

A bear of a cop and others

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books added three police officers: Dexter H. Mast, Robert Downey and Larry Murphy.

Dexter H. Mast was an Oakland Police Department police officer for over 30 years, According to the back cover of his first book, Six Gold Stars, “Chuckles and tears from the notebooks of Oakland’s legendary police officer during a career that began in 1939, in the depression. Even the gamblers and whores who were jailed by this bear of a cop liked him. But one day he wrote a ticket to the man who could make or break anyone in Oakland.”

Robert Downey began his law enforcement career with the Oakland Police Department. After his Air Force service during the Korean War, he joined the Beverly Hills Police Department. He advanced through the ranks to Lieutenant and eventually moved to San Juan County, Washington as Undersheriff. He closed out his career as a Senior Special Agent with the Treasury Department U.S. Customs Service. According to the book description of his book, “Beverly Hills Detective, “The magic city of Beverly Hills conjures up images of movie stars, Rodeo Drive, big homes and even the neighboring town of Hollywood. During the late 1950's and 1960's, Robert Downey found himself in the detective bureau of this fascinating city investigating an odd assortment of crimes. This is the story of Robert Downey who goes from rookie cop to seasoned veteran and the cases and people who took him there.”

Larry Murphy was an Oakland Police Department police officer. According to his bio, “he has broad experience in Administration of Justice and, notably, made significant contributions toward revising police recruiting and police training standards following the riots that shook America's cities during the latter part of the 1960s. He was awarded the Oakland, California, Police Department's Medal of Merit for contributions to police training innovations and earned the coveted advanced certificate for law enforcement preparedness issued by the California Department of Justice.”

Larry Murphy’s book, Blackjack and Jive-Five, is the true story of “the day-to-day pressures experienced by a unit of black cops and their white sergeant confronting a white-dominated police culture.” According to Jon J. Sparks, Chief of Police (ret.), “Blackjack and Jive-Five should be required reading for all incoming police recruits. Not only is there a strong social message but the book includes many textbook solutions to a variety of typical disturbance situations and tactical maneuvers for handling potentially dangerous contacts with criminal suspects. I know of no formal written training instrument that tackles these difficult situations with such detail and insight to the human factors involved.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 353
police officers (representing 146 police departments) and their 785 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.

350th Cop Author Writes a Children’s Book

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books added the 350th police officer who has written a book.

Frank Caruso is a motorcycle police officer with the Irvine Police Department (California). With more than 15 years experience in law enforcement, Frank Caruso has held a variety of positions including Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, D.A.R.E. Instructor, and Gang Officer/Investigator. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and an Associate of Arts degree in Administration of Justice. Police Officer Frank Caruso has received several Community Policing Awards and is a recipient of the prestigious International Association of Chiefs of Police Civil Rights Award.

Frank Caruso’s book is an illustrated children’s book, “designed to teach preschool through third-grade level children that police officers are not only community servants who are there to help and protect them, but are human beings with their own unique families and interests.” While Frank Caruso provided the content in the form of a true story, the book was illustrated by Irene Williams, “a recently retired sixth-grade teacher from the Garden Grove Unified School District in Garden Grove, California. During her 30-year career, Ms. Williams instructed students at every grade level, including members of the Gifted and Talented Education program.”

Frank’s book is endorsed by Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE).

The 349th
Police Officer added to the website was Chap Riese. Chap Riese was a San Francisco Police Department police officer for over 25 years. He wrote a novel, Fallen Copper. According to the book description, Fallen Copper “is a mystery thriller based on case history files from the San Francisco Police Department. In this 1950's who-dunnit, in a city racked with scandal and corruption, Patrolman Frank Ahern becomes Chief of Police and a rookie cop takes the fall for political expediency.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 350
police officers (representing 146 police departments) and their 781 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.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Military Playing Down Long Runs, Adopting More Diverse Fitness Programs

Editor’s Note: Will police training and Law Enforcement Training follow the course?

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 26, 2007 – If a little bit of running is good for keeping warfighters in top form, then a lot of running is better, right? "Wrong!" say officials here at the
Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have come to recognize that as beneficial as running can be to overall fitness, health and military readiness, too much of a good thing causes injuries that leave troops less fit, less healthy and less ready, Army Lt. Col. Steve Bullock, the center's health promotion policy program manager, told American Forces Press Service.

As a result, the services are tailoring their physical
training regimes to reduce the emphasis on "pounding the pavement." Instead, they're replacing regular long-distance runs with other forms of exercise, he said.

The goal is to reduce overuse injuries that translate
military-wide to more than 8 million days of limited duty a year, said Keith Hauret, an epidemiologist for the Army's injury prevention program. Fractures, sprains, strains and other musculoskeletal conditions, many resulting from physical training, take an even greater toll on the force in terms of lost- or limited-duty days.

"Injuries have a direct effect on readiness and a soldier's ability to perform his duties, whether in training or while deployed," Hauret said. "It has a direct impact on the soldier's ability to perform, and that has a direct impact on that unit's readiness."

The services' new approach to physical
training aims to bring injury rates down while ensuring a fit military force.

"We're not going soft," Bullock said. "What we're doing is increasing the intensity of the training, and the effect on heart, lungs and overall strength is actually better."

The Army, for example, is reducing the miles troops run, breaking soldiers into "ability groups" for distance runs, adding speed drills to its PT regime and substituting grass drills and other forms of exercise for running.

"We have recommended no more than 30 minutes of running, and no more than three or four times a week," Bullock said.

Higher-intensity, shorter-distance runs and interval
training increase troops' speed and stamina with less risk of injuries, he said. At the same time, this more balanced approach to PT actually improves their ability to perform in combat.

"What we do in the
military is explosive energy," Bullock said. "Soldiers need to be able to move quickly. They need balance and coordination. That's not something they're going to get through lumbering, long, slow runs."

For their running programs, Bullock advises units to incorporate these training elements into their programs:

-- Follow a standardized, gradual and systematic progression of running distance and speed. Begin with lower mileage and intensity, especially in programs for new recruits, people changing units or those returning to PT after time off for leave or an injury.

-- Structure injury-prevention programs to target troops of average or below-average fitness levels who are at the greatest risk of injury, and ensure they're running appropriate mileages.

-- Place troops in ability groups based on PT scores and measure their runs by time, not distance. This will reduce the risk of injury among the least-fit troops without holding back the higher performers.

-- Avoid remedial PT programs that require the least-fit troops to do more training than fit ones. This increases their injury risk, often with little or no improvement in their fitness.

-- Substitute higher-intensity, shorter-distance runs like repeated sprints, "Fartlek" training and other interval
training activities for some distance runs.

-- Build in time for troops' bodies to recover and rebuild following demanding PT sessions to reduce the risk of overtraining injuries.

"Injuries are the biggest threat to our forces and our readiness," Bullock said. "Our goal is to help the
military understand the burden of injuries and refocus their approach to physical training to reduce injuries in a way that actually improves readiness."

Sponsors of the article include
criminal justice online leadership; and, military and police personnel who have written books.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Southern California Cop Authors

February 25, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added Victor Paez Torres and Michael Ruppert to the list of police officers who have written books.

In 1999, a former
Santa Ana Police Department (California) police officer, Victor Paez Torres, wrote Code of Police Silence: Behind the Thin Blue Line. According to the book description “COPS is a police story set in the late 1970's in the southern California city of Santa Ana, yet many of the events chronicled could just have well taken place today in any city of America. Author, Victor Torres, skillfully utilizes symbolism and realism to portray the dynamics of Latino duality and introspection as these Latino cops endeavor to defeat the beast of racism.”

At the time of publication, Adrian Garcia, National President, National Latino Peace Officers Association said of the book, “As a nineteen year
law enforcement veteran, I find COPS as a very accurate depiction of the challenges faced by Latino officers in the 1970s. Unfortunately, some of what is mentioned in this book is still occurring. Hopefully, this book will inspire more Hispanic officers to accept the challenge to be leaders and positive change agents of their communities and agencies.”

Michael Ruppert is a former Los Angeles Police Department narcotics investigator, whistleblower and a 1973 Honors Graduate of UCLA in Political Science. In 1977, while still on the job, Michel Ruppert discovered information linking the Central Intelligence Agency to drug trafficking. Shortly thereafter, Michael Ruppert resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to the book description,
Michael Ruppert’s book, Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, “The attacks of September 11, 2001, were accomplished through an amazing orchestration of logistics and personnel. Crossing the Rubicon discovers and identifies key suspects-finding some of them in the highest echelons of American government - by showing how they acted in concert to guarantee that the attacks produced the desired result. Crossing the Rubicon is unique not only for its case-breaking examination of 9/11, but for the breadth and depth of its world picture-an interdisciplinary analysis of petroleum, geopolitics, narcotraffic, intelligence and militarism-without which 9/11 cannot be understood.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 348
police officers (representing 145 police departments) and their 779 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.

Friday, February 23, 2007

NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary

Thursday, February 22, 2007

"
Police Needing Heavier Weapons"
USA Today (02/19/07); Johnson, Kevin

Firearms Committee of the
International Association of Chiefs of Police Chairman Scott Knight reports that preliminary polls of roughly 20 U.S. police departments indicate they purchased new weapons, including military-style firearms, for their officers during the last three years. Knight believes the departments' move to include more assault weapons in their officers' arsenal is a result of the expiration of a national ban that barred the manufacture of certain firearms. The ban prohibited the manufacture of semi-automatic weapons and ammunition clips that could contain more than 10 rounds. Ron Stucker, criminal investigations chief of the Orange County, Fla., Sheriff's Department, added that officers are seeing the increased use of assault weapons in robberies and finding more of the weapons during traffic stops. Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt notes gang members, major drug traffickers, and immigrant smugglers apparently favor assault weapons compared to other types of firearms. He decided to make the wearing of body armor mandatory for his police officers last year because of the increased presence of assault weapons on the streets.
http://www.usatoday.com/news
/nation/2007-02-19-police-weapons_x.htm

"
Technology May Cut Area Gun Violence"
Contra Costa Times (CA) (02/19/07) P. F4; Read, Simon

Antioch, Calif., Councilman Jim Davis wants to bring the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System to his city in order to help fight gun violence. The ShotSpotter uses highly technical sensors and "acoustic triangulation" to find the exact location of gunfire in a broad geographic region, the manufacturer claims. Within 10 seconds of a gun being shot, ShotSpotter can find where it happened and send an address to
police and emergency personnel. Davis wants the system implemented within a five-mile by five-mile area of Antioch. ShotSpotter has been used in several other U.S. cities, including Oakland, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Oakland Police Officer Roland Holmgren feels that ShotSpotter has been highly useful. "We've been very happy with it and have had some successes," he stated. Davis says it would cost around $1 million to bring ShotSpotter in Antioch, and notes there are several funding options the city could look into, including redevelopment agency money, company sponsors, and federal grants. http://www.contracostatimes.com
/mld/cctimes/community/16732299.htm

"Surveillance Questions Raised Over New
Police License Plate Scanners"
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (02/19/07); Gumer, Jason B.

Police in Palm Beach County will soon be using several camera systems to scan and check license plate numbers. The Sheriff's Office will install a $33,000 mobile multi-camera license plate recognition system that can go in an unmarked car, read license plates from multiple directions and angles, and automatically search criminal databases and notify police. The city of Atlantis will install a $250,000 security camera system that will photograph license plates on cars entering the community, run numbers through state and national crime databases, and notify police if there is a match. Civil liberties advocates are saying the systems are examples of rapidly increasing efforts to invade privacy and are intended to regulate who is driving through the more affluent communities that can afford the expensive equipment. Law enforcement officials said an officer always runs a second computer check to prevent errors, the courts have ruled there is no expectation of privacy in public places, and the systems will only make the regular activity of running license plate checks faster and more efficient.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news
/local/southflorida/sfl-pcameras19f
eb19,0,5639911.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

"New Weapons Shoot to Hurt, Not to Kill"
Kansas City Star (02/18/07) P. A1; Canon, Scott

The Pentagon's Joint Non-lethal Weapons Directorate, founded in 1997, continues to explore alternatives to the use of lethal force by researching new non-lethal weapons and training military leaders at the Interservice non-lethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. In addition to traditional non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets and Tasers, which can have drastically different effects based on the size and strength of the target, some new and universally effective non-lethal weapons are in development. The Active Denial System uses electromagnetic radio-frequency beam that penetrates only 1/64th of an inch into the target's skin to create the sensation of burning skin that stops almost instantly after the beam is shut off. An imagined weapon is the development of technological black ice that would cause people and vehicles to slip uncontrollably unless equipped with shoes or tires containing the counteracting chemical. Chinese scientists have hypothesized about biotechnology weapons that would make people feel terribly clumsy, incredibly forgetful, or completely docile. A new non-lethal weapon is a pinpoint long-range loudspeaker that can send deafening sound directly at a target and has already been used to ward off a pirate attack on a civilian cruise ship in Africa in 2005.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld
/kansascity/news/front/16724453.htm

"Sanford Cops Get 'Partner'"
Orlando Sentinel (FL) (02/18/07); Patterson, Melissa

In Sanford and other cities in Central Florida,
police departments are adding systems to patrol cars that enable officers to listen to vehicle data from their computers as they drive on the road. This eliminates the need to gaze downward or stop the vehicle to look at information from a laptop. The new technology, called Virtual Partner, also lets officers create electronic tickets using vehicle tag or driver's license data. The officer simply inputs details about the offense and presses the print button; the entire process takes about two minutes, says Sgt. Greg Smith, supervisor of Sanford's traffic unit. However, some of the printers have been printing data outside of the appropriate boxes or printing only halfway, he says. The entire system cost the department about $74,000, including the installation of in-car printers. That amount was financed through state grants and law-enforcement trust money. The only town in Seminole County that has yet to implement Virtual Partner is Oviedo, which is still mulling the move. The next step for Sanford is installing Virtual Partner in unmarked squad cars and streamlining the system that transmits citation records so that data can be sent automatically to agencies as needed, says police representative Cleo Cohen.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com
/news/local/seminole/orl-spatrol1
807feb18,0,3853112.story

"
Police Hope to Leg Up on Inmates"
Quay County Sun (NM) (02/14/07); Delany, Chelle

The Quay County Commissioners in Quay County, N.M., along with law enforcement officials are considering the wider use of electronic ankle bracelets for adult and juvenile inmates. An ankle bracelet can track an inmate's location through GPS positioning, and today it is often used today as part of work release programs. Juvenile detention costs around $105 per day, and using an electronic ankle bracelet could reduce that to $10 per day. Magistrate Judge Karen P. Mitchell of Harding County, N.M., says the tool may be "a real option for rural New Mexico." Harding County, for instance, lacks a detention center and ships offenders sometimes to Quay County.
http://www.qcsunonline.com
/engine.pl?station=quay&tem
plate=fnmStoryFull.html&id=12548

"Digging for Data"
Albuquerque Journal (02/16/07) P. 1; Willson, Kate

Law enforcement officials in Santa Fe County, N.M., have launched a two-person computer forensics laboratory located within the Sheriff's Department. The lab will operate out of two linked storage rooms that contain $100,000 in investments, says County Sheriff Greg Solano. Using grant money from the Department of Justice and Eastern Kentucky University, the sheriff's office appointed former deputy Larry Martinez as a computer expert. Martinez, along with Sgt. Belarmino Lopez, underwent training with the FBI and also received a tool they dubbed "Dirty Sally" that scrutinizes deleted records, emails, phone lists, and visited Web pages. The tool can gather such information as the number of times particular documents or sites were looked at as well as when and how often; the tool can also determine when documents were deleted. The new lab will work on cases from the county as well as those from northern towns, State Police, and pueblo police units. Martinez noted that the state's crime lab currently lacks a computer forensics specialist and that the typical turnaround time for the FBI's Albuquerque lab is eight to 13 months. Martinez has already used the new lab to determine if employees at the county juvenile prison were using their work computers to access pornography.
http://www.abqjournal.com
/santafe/538747north_news02-16-07.htm

"New Bern
Police Department Posting Crime Stats on Web Site"
Sun Journal (New Bern, N.C.) (02/14/07); Sawyer, Francine

The New Bern, N.C.,
police department has started posting crime statistics it routinely reports to the U.S. Department of Justice online at its public Internet Web site. New Bern Chief of Police Frank Palombo says the statistics will help potential home buyers better assess their potential neighborhoods. In addition, Palombo says New Bern statistics will be more timely, rather than solely presented in "annual crime statistics to be reported by the state." The statistics are broken down across two districts and five geographical zones. Palombo says that as further technology tools become available, the department plans to post information on individual crimes and arrests. The department's spokesperson will be in charge of posting online this already-collected information assembled by the crime analysis unit.
http://www.newbernsj.com
/onset?id=527&template=article.html

"For Cops, High-Tech Device is Just the Ticket for Fast Citations"
Orlando Sentinel (FL) (02/16/07) P. B1; Knowles, Mary

The Orange County, Fla., Sheriff's Office and the Orlando
Police Department have launched electronic traffic-ticketing programs. All motorcycle deputies working at the motors division of the Sheriff's Office are using the PocketCitation device that allows officers to electronically input ticket information. The device also produces a printout of the ticket. Deputies report that the technology has resulted in officers making more traffic stops. For example, the number of tickets written by Orange County Deputies increased from roughly 28,000 in 2005 to 44,881 during the following year.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com
/orl-ticketing1607feb16,0,3231701.story

"Bucks Prison Upgrades System for Better Notification"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/15/07) P. B6

Authorities claim that any changes to the status of Bucks County, Pa., prison inmates that a crime victim or prosecutor needs to know about will initiate a computerized letter due to an upgrade in the prison's management system. The new software, which costs $1.1 million, replaces paperwork and computer systems that resulted in mistakes such as permitting a sex offender to leave the prison for as long as 12 hours per day to take classes at the University of Pennsylvania without informing the mother of the teenage victim. This case was the subject of a hearing in February after the mother discovered on a Megan's Law Web site that the prisoner was going to classes and informed prosecutors. A judge reversed the academic release privileges, and the university stated that the offender could reapply for the graduate economic classes following his release. The new system monitors prison records and case details, and if a change in an inmate's status requires notification, the system sends a letter to the crime victim and the prosecutor, stated director of county corrections Harris Gubernick.
http://www.philly.com/mld
/inquirer/news/local/states/
pennsylvania/counties/philad
elphia_county/philadelphia/16700877.htm

"Cops Gain Upper Hand But Car Thieves Still Busy"
LA Daily News (02/15/07); Sheppard, Harrison

Law enforcement officials said new technology is one of the main reasons for a drop in auto theft in California for the first time this decade. Last year California saw a statewide 5.5 percent drop in auto theft, with 247,896 cars being stolen, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Vehicle-theft tracking, security systems, and devices that lock steering wheels, columns, or brakes were some of the efforts owners used to protect their vehicles. Law enforcement also used an impressive array of technology. "Bait cars," cars placed in high-theft areas, sometimes with the keys inside and engines running, can be tracked and even turned off remotely by police and resulted in 357 arrests by the CHP. License-plate recognition systems, which use multiple cameras mounted on patrol cars and can automatically scan license plates and identify stolen cars through a database, were responsible for 535 arrests and 868 vehicle recoveries. Police are also trying to reduce car owners' bad habits, such as leaving a car running for a quick errand or to warm it up on a cold morning, by issuing tickets for leaving a running vehicle unattended. http://www.dailynews.com
/news/ci_5238380

"Committee Approves Photo-Radar"
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (02/15/07)

The Wyoming Senate Transportation, Highways, and Military Affairs approved legislation last week that permits Casper and Cheyenne to launch an automated vehicle identification system. Casper and Cheyenne will have to share the cost burden of the system, which is projected at $100,000. Sen. Bob Fecht (R), one of the bill's co-sponsors, believes the system will aid law enforcement in "protecting life, protecting property, and promoting public safely." The system will record vehicles that go through red traffic lights. Lt. Mark Munari with the Cheyenne
Police Department said that 1,000 people die annually because of red-light violations.
http://www.wyomingnews.com
/articles/2007/02/20/legislatu
re_2007/news/news898.txt

"Gang Tracking High on Wish List"
Riverside Press Enterprise (02/14/07) P. B2; Gang, Duane W.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt supports requiring parolees with known gang involvement to wear satellite tracking devices. The county's Board of Supervisors recently agreed to allow the use of civil injunctions to combat street gangs as part of a larger strategy to address the gang problem. San Bernardino County already employs satellite tracking devices to monitor the location of registered sex offenders. Sheriff Gary Penrod has expressed support for Mitzelfelt's proposal and believes that tracking devices could positively influence the behavior of parolees. Penrod is also seeking $380 million in funds for constructing a jail to house 3,000 inmates.

http://www.pe-online.com

"State
Police Start Web Crimes Unit"
Springfield State-Journal Register (02/08/07); Pelzer, Jeremy

The Illinois State
Police have created a new Internet Crimes Unit that allows local residents to visit a Web site to report online crimes. The unit is comprised of 30 staff members, including forensic investigators that oversee particular areas of the state. Illinois State Police director Larry Trent believes the unit will lead to a more proactive and efficient police response. Residents can report any crime related to the Internet, such as scam emails or the presence of a sexual predator online, to the unit. Visitors to the Web site can also access information about steps they can take after being a victim of Internet crime.
http://www.sj-r.com
/sections/news/stories/107370.asp

"Slowing the Pursuit"
Law Enforcement Technology (01/07) Vol. 34, No. 1, P. 94; Kozlowski, Jonathan

A 1997 National Institute of Justice report "
Police Pursuit: Policies and Training," by University of South Carolina high-speed police pursuits expert Dr. Geoffrey Alpert finds that in 40 percent of such situations, the primary car caused an accident. Pursuits are frequently initiated by nonviolent misdemeanor crimes such as drivers with expired licenses, individuals driving a stolen car, or individuals transporting contraband. The StarChase Pursuit Management System from StarChase allows suspect tagging and monitoring for a safer and controlled interdiction method. The system is made up of a projectile connected to a suspect vehicle serving as a monitoring device for law enforcement to eventually ease up on the accelerator and safely manage the pursuit without the risk factors that accompany high-speed chases, such as serious crashes, substantial property damage, or injury to bystanders and officers. In addition, StarChase can be employed for automatic vehicle location, anti-theft protection, and real-time monitoring of targets and assets. StarChase emits and attaches a tracking gadget to a suspect car via a launching device implemented inside the police car's grill. The tag has a minuscule global positioning system module, a global system for mobile communications transmitter, and an incorporated lithium battery power supply.
http://www.officer.com/publication
/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=34899

Narc tales and corruption

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, has added four police officers whose true stories of undercover narcotics work, near-corruption and outright corruption provide a trip into big city police work of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Jack Kelly probably knew more about narcotics trafficking in America than any other person. From the time he joined Atlantic City Police Department at the end of World War II to his retirement from one of the highest enforcement positions in the United States Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, Kelly spent his life in pursuit of the world’s largest, most cunning, and dangerous illicit drug suppliers. Along the way, he earned a reputation from peddlers and junkies, as well as federal and local law enforcement officials, as "the toughest narc of them all."

According to the book description, “On the Street is
Jack Kelly's story. It is also the story of drugs in America and of the people who become enmeshed in its widespread, complex network. As Kelly unfolds the story of his career, we learn what makes a good cop-and a bad one. He discloses in considerable detail the psychology of developing informers and of keeping them; how suspects used to be-and are-interrogated; and how evidence is handled. He shows how a set-up is arranged and an arrest made, and he tells what it's like to work undercover, as he did for much of his career, on numerous occasions almost losing his cover-and his life.

Kelly is brutally frank. He tells not only of informers who, after being loaned money by agents to set up a purchase, run off with the loot, but also of policemen who, finding large quantities of cash at the site of an arrest, report only a small portion of it and pocket the rest. He narrates with compassion the story of the elderly medical doctor who gave heroin to his junkie patients because he truly couldn't stand to see anyone suffer. And he tells in sorrow of the narcotics agents who became junkies themselves.”

Stephen Del Corso and Bill Erwin were narcotics detectives in the New York Police Department. They co-authored the true story, Blue Domino. According to the book description, “Blue Domino is a cop's-eye view of a narcotics case so big and so successful that it resulted in the conviction of 86 major heroin dealers. It is also the story of the "Lady in Pink," a beautiful Puerto Rican drug courier who turned out to be the key to the case. And it is the story of the biggest bribe ever offered a detective in the history of the New York Police Department.”

Edward F. Droge of the New York Police Department authored two novels, In the Highest Tradition and The Honor Legion, and his own autobiography - Patrolman: A Cop's Story. According to the book description, “Edward F. Droge, Jr. made headlines with his testimony about police corruption before the Knapp Commission in New York. Now he has decided to tell the whole blunt, hard-nosed truth about himself and the system that made him and broke him. This is the story of his career from the beginning to the end. It is the story of fighting crime in the savage ghettos, of collaring hookers on the nighttime streets, of breaking up murderous family quarrels and risking his life and limb in hair-raising chases and gun duels. It is also the story of pocketing money and bending regulations and losing every ideal. And finally it is the story of how one cop's undercover activities implicated his fellow officers.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 346
police officers (representing 145 police departments) and their 777 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.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Rookies and Chiefs

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, has added two police officers and their seven books to the lengthy list of police writers.

In 1962
T. Mike Walker received his MA in Language Arts and Creative Writing. He was an associate editor for Etc. Magazine of General Semantics from 1963-65, and taught Creative Writing at San Francisco State University. He worked his way through college as a police officer for the San Francisco Police Department. In 1969, his novel, Voices From The Bottom of the World: A Policeman's Journal, was published.

In Voices, the story of a rookie police officer is told through a journal he keeps. According to the book description, “The book opens with a description of Danny's training at the police Academy and his indoctrination into the rituals of sanctioned force. Then, as a rookie cop on the beat, he relates his experiences, his sometimes ludicrous and almost tragic mistakes, the gradual loss of his naiveté, and the disintegration of his marriage. He is then assigned to help guard the stadium at the Monterey Jazz Festival—during this sunny interlude he lives in a dream world of music and sex. The journal ends with Danny's duty in the Misdemeanor section of the city prison, where he slowly learns to become indifferent, and even brutal, to the prisoners, absorbing the idea of violence almost without realizing what is happening to him.”

T. Mike Walker’s other books are Respect: Hippy High School in the Summer of Love and The Butter Fly Bride.

Chief of Police Joseph D. McNamara (retired) began his career as a New York Police Department police officer. While still in his 30s, he rose to the rank of Deputy Inspector (one rank above captain in NYPD’s hierchy). He left NYPD to become the Chief of Police of the Kansas City Police Department (Missouri). At that time, he was likely the youngest chief of police in a major city. He left Kansas City to take the reigns of the San Jose Police Department (California) as their chief.

Joseph D. McNamara has written for novels. The first three, The First Directive, Fatal Command and The Blue Mirage feature the character Finnbar Fraliegh. The books follow Fraliegh’s career from a detective sergeant in a large police department, to a newly formed police department as the chief of detectives and finally to the acting chief of police in a third.

According to the book description of
Joseph D. McNamara’s fourth book, Code 211 Blue, “Kevin McKay is a hometown boy who grew up to be a cop. Now he's out of the fire and into the heat--transferred from narcotics to a serial rape case that is turning into murder. But while McKay scours San Francisco from the Tenderloin to Chinatown for a perp known only as Ski Mask, a web of betrayal is being spun by the most dangerous enemies a cop can ever have--the ones who carry a badge. Trusting no one--not his bosses, not the rich lady he's falling in love with--McKay is fighting back against a death trap with his wits, his courage, and his honor . . . on streets stained forever with blood.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 342
police officers (representing 144 police departments) and their 772 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.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Courage, Snipers and Riots

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added five police officers and one civilian police employee to the growing list of police officers turned authors.

Captain
Thomas G. Dempsey of the San Francisco Police Department researched the deaths of the 92 San Francisco police officers killed in the line of duty between 1878 and 1994, and authored the book Men of Courage: San Francisco Police Officers.

Curt Nelson has been a San Francisco Police Department police officer, a member of the Screen Actor's Guild and a negotiator for Rockefeller Center, Inc. in New York City. Curt has authored Darkstar and Heart of the Hunter. According to the book description, Darkstar “is a novel of sex, violence, murder and revenge, set in San Francisco and Hawaii, spanning a time period of twenty years before coming full circle.”

Peter E. Laksbergs was born in Wisconsin. While in the U.S. military, he received law enforcement training, ground defense tactics, and special weapons training. He is currently a police officer with the San Antonio Police Department (Texas). Laksbergs first novel is Scope of Lie: A Sniper’s Diary, is the story of a young man who enters the military, “learns quickly and respects authority, and is a great shot.” According to the book description, “these attributes do not go unnoticed.” And, the main character ultimately learns to “hit the target, confirm the kill and get home” for the "The Agency." Years, missions and lies pile up until there is one “lie in particular that Pete (the main character) cannot ignore-that what he is doing is in the name of national security. But the next mission targets Pete and his family. This time, Pete has to make sure that this mission does not succeed.”

Inspector
Victor L. Short (retired) of the San Francisco Police Department explores his 32 year career in Only the Facts Ma’am.

Tom Owens, a former Los Angeles Police Department police officer wrote Lying Eyes: The Truth Behind the Corruption and Brutality of the Lapd and the Beating of Rodney King. According to Kirkus reviews, the book is “an inside look at the Rodney King case, the ensuing trials, and the L.A. riots that followed, by the private detective hired by King's attorney to investigate the police officers' conduct and provide security for the beleaguered beating victim. A former L.A. policeman, Owens does not claim to tell ``the Rodney King story,'' but rather, with the help of Hollywood writer Browning, to give ``the factual version.'' In reviewing his own 12 years on the LAPD (he's oddly vague as to dates, when he resigned and why, what he did prior to opening his agency, etc.), he contends that the violence demonstrated by the officers that night in March 1991 is systemic, and that there is a ``code of silence'' that helps ``explain the attitudes of some of the officers'' caught in the act on George Holliday's now famous videotape.”

As a former
Los Angeles Police Department police officer, Tom Owens was also added to the list at LAPDauthors.com.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 340
police officers (representing 143 police departments) and their 765 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.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Four Police Officers and a Civilian

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added four police officers and one civilian police employee to the growing list of police officers turned authors.

Commander
Doug Drummond joined the Long Beach Police Department in 1959 and retired after 39 years in 1988. He has a BA and MPA in Public administration, as well a doctorate in criminology from August Vollmer University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy; a two term city council member; part-time faculty at California State University, Long Beach; and, the President of the Historical Society of Long Beach. He is the author of two novels, Cyclone Racer and What Goes Around Comes Around.

After retiring from the
Beverly Hills Police Department, Detective Lynn Franklin has written three books: The Beverly Hills Murder File: The True Story of the Cop City Hall Wanted Dead; Beverly Hills Copy Story; and, Beverly Hills Murder File.

In 1971, Sergeant
Leo J. Coakley of the New Jersey State Police wrote Jersey Troopers: A Fifty Year History of the New Jersey State Police while assigned to the Division Planning Section. According to one reader, “I have read this book many times over the years. The stories told reflect greatly upon the storied past of the New Jersey State Police and the sacrifices that have been made from the beginning up to the date of publication.”

In 1975,
Andrew K. Dutch, of the New Jersey State Police published Hysteria: Linbergh Kidnap Case. In 1983, George Homa of the New Jersey State Police published The Law Enforcement Sketch Artist.

Mark Falzini, is the archivist at the New Jersey State Police Museum. His book, Letters Home is a unique account of daily life for a military family living in Occupied Germany as they experienced the aftermath of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War. Through extensive letters written home to family left behind in America and supplemented by interviews with the family, the reader will discover insights not seen elsewhere.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 335
police officers (representing 142 police departments) and their 759 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.

LAPD’s 50Th Police Author

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added four police officers to website; including the 50th Los Angeles Police Department police officer to have written a book.

Adam Matkowsky, a native New Yorker, is currently a Los Angeles Police Department police officer. His book, Nine-O-Adam, according to one reader, “chronicles his life and his dreams from the Military to the NYPD and finally, LAPD. The book includes some great stories about the author’s life and I especially enjoyed the stories about his experiences in the NYPD. A must read for all law enforcement Officers.” In addition to being added to Police-Writers.com, Matkowsky was added to LAPDAuthors.com; a website listing only LAPD authors and information.

Leslie T. White was an investigator for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in the late 1920s. His 1936 book, Me, Detective, is an autobiographical work. He also wrote Harness Bull and Homicide; as well as for detective magazines of that period.

Lieutenant
Winona M. Franz retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Her book, Guiltless, is a true crime novel and “is a skillfully woven account of real cases investigated by author.” According to the book description, “the perpetrator begins his crime spree with a vicious child molestation followed by a series of rapes, burglaries and culminates with a senseless murder. Fearful, uncooperative victims, and a family deeply involved in a mysterious folk religion, hamper the investigation.”

Jonathan Nerlinger, a veteran of the Huntington Park Police Department (California) published True Blue: A Policeman’s Story. His work is the fictional account of a police officer’s life. According to one reader, “This is by far one of the better books I have read. The author takes you through the life of John Nolan, a young police officer. From his first day of deciding on a career in law enforcement until the day he retires. It also touches on his personal life too. His marriage and his family which made the book even more interesting. It really gives you a good look into what a tough and challenging career being a police officer really is and how much things have changed over the years.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 330
police officers (representing 141 police departments) and their 752 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. Moreover, NYPD still leads police departments nationwide with 78 police writers.

Monday, February 19, 2007

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.

Fear of Realty and Hostage Situations

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added three police officers: Detective John M. Coyle, Captain Cecil Pearson and Commander Eric R. Radli. Detective Coyle was also added to LAPDAuthors.com, a website that lists only Los Angeles Police Department police officers who have written books.

John M. Coyle retired from the Los Angeles Police Department after 37 years, at the rank of detective. He spent his last 20 years investigating Domestic Terrorism as a member of the FBI's Los Angeles Task Force on Terrorism.

According to the description of his fictional novel, Fear of Reality, “the author began writing this work of fiction several years ago after being inspired by the disappearance of Laci Peterson and Conner, her unborn child. The author does not question the fact that Scott Peterson is responsible for the murder of his wife and unborn child. However, there were questions raised during the trial by the defense that an unknown cult had abducted Laci for some type of satanic sacrifice. The author took this a step further and came up with a criminal enterprise bent on stealing unborn children from the womb of their mother; so that childless wealthy clients could be enriched by the patter of little feet.”

Captain
Cecil Pearson, Ret. is a nationally recognized consultant and police training provider in law enforcement and correctional topics. He is a past consultant for the American Jail Association (AJA), provided consultant services to the Western Louisiana United States Attorney’s Office and, is a past consultant for Lockup USA, a video training provider. Captain Pearson is an experienced leader, trainer and presentation speaker. He has over 27 years in law enforcement and correctional principles, methods and practices. He is a graduate of the National FBI Academy (137 Session). Pearson’s practical experience includes working in the areas of Detention, Patrol and Detectives, retiring after 28 years of service from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, located in Reno, Nevada.

Commander
Eric R. Radli is recently retired from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, located in Reno, Nevada. He is a nationally recognized consultant and instructor in topics including, but not limited to: Hostage Negotiations, Hostage Survival, Jail Response Teams, Crisis Intervention, Officer Safety, Leadership Principles, Field/Facility Police Training Officer Programs and, Workplace Violence. Working as a past consultant for the American Jail Association (AJA), he has supplied police training to numerous agencies covering a wide variety of topics. Additionally, Radli has provided consulting services through the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and Lockup USA, a video training production company. He is also a State of Nevada Certified Instructor in law enforcement topics.

Commander Radli’s experience covers working assignments in the Jail, Courts, Training, Patrol and Detectives. He has spent over 25 years involved in the County’s Hostage Negotiations Team, starting as Chief Negotiator and promoting up to Team Commander. Presently, he is the Team
Training Advisor. Radli has personally negotiated numerous hostage-related incidents and has trained with the FBI in several scenarios produced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Commander Radli’s practical, real-life experiences add to the credibility of his training methods and effectiveness of his instruction.

Captain Cecil Pearson and Commander Eric R. Radli co-authored Hostage Situations. Their book is “an introductory book for students entering the field, or professionals seeking continued professional development in the issues of hostage situations. It includes cases studies and suggested checklists. The book is appropriate for
criminal justice, criminal investigation, and homeland security programs. It is also suited for programs in emergency management, corporate security, psychology, emergency medical services and healthcare, police academy programs, and continuing professional development.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 325
police officers (representing 139 police departments) and their 744 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.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

9-11, Gangs and Investigations

February 18, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added three police officers who have written books on subjects ranging from an account of the FDNY on 9-11 to the investigation of gangs. The police officers added are: Richard Picciotto, Al Valdez and Dennis Evers.

A former
New York Police Department police officer, Richard Picciotto is a 28 year veteran of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). As a fire fighter, he has served as a fire marshal, arson investigator, lieutenant, captain and chief.

According to Margaret Flanagan of Booklist, Chief
Richard Picciotto’s book, Last Man Down: A Firefighter's Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center, is a “ gripping, first-person account of a 9-11 survivor provides a firefighter's view of the World Trade Center catastrophe. An invaluable eyewitness to history as well as a professional just doing his job, Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto was inside the North Tower when it collapsed. Determined to be the last man down, Picciotto coordinated the rescue effort of several dozen incapacitated civilians. Stranded on the landing between the sixth and seventh floors when the building came tumbling down around and on top of him, Chief "Pitch," a small band of fellow firefighters, and one grandmotherly civilian improbably survived the collapse in a small vacuum created by the placement of the twisted debris.”

Dr.
Al Valdez, Ph.D., retired as an Investigator for the Orange County (CA) District Attorney’s Office after 25 years of law enforcement experience. He is has appeared on national television including Geraldo and CNN as an expert on gangs.

His book, Gangs: A Guide to Understanding Street Gangs, is a “comprehensive guide for
law enforcement and criminal justice-related professionals, mental health professionals, teachers and parents. It includes gang life style, sociology and characteristics of: Latino, Asian, African-American, White Supremacists, Prison, Outlaw Motorcycle, Occult and Hybrid gangs.

Dennis Evers is a 23-year veteran police officer. He has a degree in Criminology from Grossmont College and has completed dozens of additional specialty courses. He was a Field Training Officer for 8 years, an Academy Instructor for 8 years, an officer for the Navajo County Sheriffs Dept. for 9 years and Chief of Police, Taylor, Arizona for 3 years. He is currently an author and consultant.

His book, Pocket Partner, is “used by individuals,
police officers, firemen, paramedics, doctors, the military, government and large and small businesses alike, the Pocket Partner has well indexed protocols, checklists and contacts for virtually every conceivable emergency. It features a comprehensive illustrated first aid chapter with poison control numbers. It contains self-protective measures for suspicious mail, bomb threats, suicide bombers, car bombs, radiological, biological and toxicological weapons, a full Haz Mat guide, over a thousand emergency phone numbers, hurricane, tornado and earthquake scales and much more. Every concerned first responder, citizen, professional, school and business should have one. In the event of an accident, major terrorist attack or weather related catastrophe, emergency services may not be available, forcing most to rely on their own resources.”

A previous addition to the list was corrected. Cop Team was listed as being the sole work of police officer
John Sepe of the New York City Housing Police. However, his partner, Louis Telano, of the New York City Housing Police was also his co-author. Telano was added to the list of police officers who have authored books.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 324
police officers (representing 139 police departments) and their 743 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.