NYPD Academics to Gunfighters

February 23, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added three NYPD cops who have looked at law enforcement from the street as well as from the classroom.

Jim Cirillo was a member of the New York City Police Department Stake-Out Squad. According to one biographer, “his job was to confront the worst in the criminal world. He lived through no less than seventeen separate shootouts. He was involved in many more armed confrontations. He later moved on to U.S. Customs. After retirement from law enforcement, Jim Cirillo took up writing. His book, Guns, Bullets, And Gunfights: Lessons And Tales From A Modern-Day Gunfighter is a compilation of articles he wrote over the years.

According to the book description of Guns, Bullets, And Gunfights: Lessons And Tales From A Modern-Day Gunfighter, “As member of the NYPD, Jim Cirillo survived more gunfights than Wild West legends Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and "Wild Bill" Hickok combined. Learn what it takes to survive a real gunfight from someone who's been in many - Jim Cirillo, top gun in the New York City Police Department stakeout unit. Read about the stress and intensity of an actual shoot-out and how to maximize your training, ammo and weapons to prevail.”

John Eterno has been employed by the New York City Police Department for over 20 years. As Commanding Officer of the Mapping Support Unit, he makes policy recommendations and handles sensitive assignments for the Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives and the Assistant Commissioner of Programs and Policies. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College in New York. He has written book chapters and journal articles on various topics within the field of policing. John Eterno is the author of Policing within the Law: A Case Study of the New York City Police Department.

According to the description of Policing within the Law : A Case Study of the New York City Police Department, “at a time when police abuses and errors make the headlines, it is important to understand just what goes into the decisions that police make when they are confronted with various crime scenarios in the line of duty. Required to respond within the law, many officers are able to respond in a legal manner to crime situations in which court decisions are written clearly and with easily applied guidelines. But what happens when those decisions and laws are written in a way that invites interpretation and varies from situation to situation? Based on a case study of New York City police officers, this important volume analyzes how officers contend with often-ambiguous laws in the face of specific crime scenarios. In addition, the author explores other influences on police decision making, including officer characteristics and attitudes, and makes policy recommendations in an effort to encourage the reinforcement of legal guidelines so that the rights of individuals are appropriately balanced with the duty to control crime.”

Frank Day retired from the New York City Police Department after 21 years of service. In May 1953, he joined the staff of the Southern Police Institute where he became the Associate Director of Training. He is the co-author, A. C. Germann (formerly of the Los Angeles Police Department) of Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. As of 1988, that book had gone into its 33rd printing. Frank Day is the author of Criminal Law and Society.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 847 police officers (representing 382 police departments) and their 1789 police books in 32 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.

Contact Information:
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530