Showing posts with label fort lauderdale police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fort lauderdale police. Show all posts

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Soldier, Cop and Author

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books and Military-Writers.com, a website dedicated to military personnel who have written books, added a prolific author who has served our country both as a soldier and police officer.

After completing
military service in Viet Nam, Cherokee Paul McDonald joined the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in 1970. Rising to the rank of sergeant, he left the department in 1980, becoming a full-time writer. In addition to his fiction novels, Cherokee Paul McDonald has written two books about his life experiences. One reader comments on Paul’s In Blue Truth: Walking the Thin Blue Line-One Cop's Story of Life in the Streets, “I was about sixteen years old when I first read this book. Twelve years later, I am a cop myself, and have read and re-read this book at least twenty times since then. This book is the real deal...it doesn't glorify our job like other books have done...just the real and the raw. It gets to the bottom of what cops have to put up with every day.”

Cherokee Paul McDonald explores his military service in, Into the Green: A Reconnaissance by Fire. In 1968, he arrived in Vietnam a U.S. Army second lieutenant, assigned as an artillery forward observer. After a year service, he fell victim to malaria and was evacuated. According to the Library Journal, Into the Green: A Reconnaissance by Fire, “speaks volumes about the stress and terror of war while also reminding the reader of the touching humanity of the erstwhile civilians called upon for military service. In place of an exhaustive, day-by-day account of the war, McDonald introduces Vietnam through a series of vignettes on life in and out of the firing line. This is Vietnam as it has rarely been described, and each short narrative offers an eloquent testimonial to the conflict.”

In addition to his autobiographical accounts,
Cherokee Paul McDonald has written one true crime novel, Under Contract: The True Account of a Cop Hired to Kill. This work is the tale of Al Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Police Department detective who posed as a hit man. According to Kirkus reviews, “What terrifies here is the repeated verification of the old saw about the banality of evil. In one memorable case, a sweet, petite, under-20 blond, answering an ad placed in the personals by a love-hungry bachelor, makes a request for the murder of her husband; short of cash, she wants to finance the crime on the installment plan.”

Cherokee Paul McDonald’s fictional works include Summer’s Reason, Gulf Stream and The Patch.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 390
police officers (representing 163 police departments) and their 844 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. Military-Writers.com lists 10 former, active or retired military personnel and their 18 books.

Florida Cop Autobiographies

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 about their careers in Florida law enforcement.

Nick Navarro served as the sheriff of Broward County, Florida from 1984 through 1992. Navarro oversaw a period during which Broward County Sheriffs Office grew both in size and in prominence as a local institution. While Navarro was sheriff, the BSO's staff doubled to 3,000 and its budget eclipsed $200 million. As sheriff, Navarro courted public attention and often attracted controversy. The television show COPS was first filmed in his jurisdiction, with his approval and support. His autobiography is called Cuban Cop.

Dennis Wise is a 35 year veteran of law enforcement and the former Public Information Officer for the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (Florida). As a police officer, he worked a variety of departments in Florida, including Lauderdale Lakes and Pembroke Parks. According to Dennis Wise, his book Honor Above All Else: Removing the Veil of Secrecy, is an “account of life in the crosshairs of the street thugs and drunk drivers.” He also remarks that, “Everyone who has ever been a cop soon learns that many times his worst enemy actually wears a badge, and so the joust begins. Not only does he have to watch his back from the public, he has his own kind to fear.”

Gary Jones was a Fort Lauderdale Police Department (Florida) police officer for over 26 years. In the mid-1970’s, as a member of his department’s new Tactical Impact Unit, he and his partner were twice named Police Officers of the Year. He rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a Captain, and he also earned a B.A. degree in Criminal Justice. Captain Jones retired from Fort Lauderdale Police Department in 1993.

Gary Jones’ book is Badge 149 - “Shots Fire!” According to the book description, “The 1970’s was the deadliest decade in modern law enforcement history and more police officers died than during any other decade of the 20th Century. In Fort Lauderdale, the “Venice of America,” violent crime was almost out of control and to stem this vicious tide the Fort Lauderdale Police Department created the Tactical Impact Unit. Written with all the drama and excitement of a novel, Badge 149 – “Shots Fired!” tells the true story of this small group of men and of the daring exploits that made them so well-known and respected.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 389
police officers (representing 163 police departments) and their 839 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.