Corruption, incompetence and gritty fiction

Editors Note: Two of the four are prior military.

January 7, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com continued to add to the listing of state and local police officers who have authored books. Added were BJ Bourg, Charles Stoker, Tom Lange and Phillip Vannatter.

BJ Bourg began his law enforcement career in 1990 with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. He worked dispatch while attending the academy and, upon graduation was assigned to patrol. He worked patrol for about two years; and, in February of 1993, was promoted to detective. BJ worked as a detective for over ten years. He was promoted to sergeant and in 2003, became a full-time instructor at the police academy. In 2004, became the Chief Investigator for the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office. He still teaches at the police academy. He began to take his life-long passion for writing seriously in 2003. Since that time, he has published nearly 100 short stories in publications like Future’s Mystery Magazine, Mysterical-E, Bewildering Stories, Apollo’s Lyre, Writer’s Post Journal, Amazon Shorts, and Chippewa Publishing. Additionally, his short stories appear in four books, “Absent the Soul” (a collection of my first twelve shorts), “The EX Factor” (a multi-authored anthology), “Stories of Strength” (a multi-authored anthology, the proceeds of which benefit victims of hurricane Katrina and other disasters), and “Seven By Seven” (a multi-authored anthology).

Former Los Angeles Police Department police officer Charles Stoker blasted 1940s corruption in the LAPD. In 1951, Charles Stoker published “Thicker’n Thieves.” According to the book cover, “where corrupt police officers, venal politicians and office-holders claimed to have been fighting the underworld, Stocker fought it personally, furiously and with everything at his command to the point where he was framed and fired for “CONDUCT UNBECOMING A POLICE OFFICER” because he testified to the fact before the 1949 Los Angeles Grand Jury. Aside from being a cold steel account of what transpired during his tenure as an officer, this is the highly human story of young Texan, Stoker.” Stoker’s 1951 bombshell is now a 2006 collectable, selling for as much as $500.

“Evidence Dismissed” is “the inside story of the police investigation of O.J. Simpson.” The authors, Detective Tom Lange and Detective Phillip Vannatter, were the lead detectives during the infamous case. Detective Tom Lange joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967 after earning a Bronze Star in Vietnam as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. In nearly 29 years with the LAPD, he was awarded more than 60 commendations from various law enforcement agencies. During his career, he was involved in more than 250 murder investigations. He retired in 1996. His partner, Phillip Vannatter, entered the Los Angeles Police Department in 1969 after serving on the United States Army Peacekeeping force in Korea. In 27 years with the LAPD he investigated more than 250 homicides, and became a court expert in highly sensitive officer-involved shootings and homicides. Throughout his career, he received more than 60 commendations from law enforcement and over 200 from civilians. He retired in 1996.

While Police-Writers.com hosts 229 police officers (representing over 70 police departments) and their 611 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.