Texas Police Authors

Editor's Note: One of the authors if former Airborne.

Police-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books. Three Texas law enforcement officials were added to the growing list of state and local police officers who have authored books. Two of the newly added authors represent Texas county and municipal law enforcement while the third is a retired federal law enforcement official from the State of Texas.

John Matthews, Executive Director of Community Safety Institute, is an Assistant Chief Constable for Dallas County and a former small-town Chief of Police. Earlier in his law enforcement career, he served as a member of the Dallas Police Department. John Matthews has a BA and Masters in Administrative Management. He has served as a facilitator and instructor for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Foundation, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the National League of Cities, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Main Street program. He is the author of two books.

His first book, The Eyeball Killer, is a true crime thriller. According to the book description, “Death was an occupational hazard for every hooker who worked Dallas's depressed south side. That's why police weren't surprised to find the body of prostitute Mary Lou Pratt shot to death in December of 1990...until the discovery that sickened even the seasoned coroner: the young woman's eyes had been cut out.” The book details the murders committed by Charles Albright. John Matthews’ second book is Creating a Safer School.

Brent Walker serves with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office in the Marine Division, which includes marine patrol, dive team and emergency response duties. Previously, Brent served as a SWAT officer on a multi-agency tactical team, detective and US Marine in a reserve Scout Sniper platoon. As a marine enforcement officer, Brent has taken advantage of his military and tactical backgrounds. He developed a curriculum and trained SWAT units in tactical maritime methods by merging existing SWAT strategy with marine patrol and dive team options. The end result is a “win-win” solution for all involved. Additional details on this can be found in Brent’s first book, Waterborne T.E.A.M.S. Marine Patrol and Dive Team Support of SWAT.

He is also responsible for having adapted USCG and USN port security tactics for use by civilian law enforcement when patrolling maritime security zones and guarding/escorting high value vessels and cargo. Brent Walker is a certified boating safety and police instructor in Texas. Brent has also authored several marine theft and boating safety articles in various publications.

Claude Thormalen was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1940 and grew up in Alice, Texas. Claude has a masters degree in education with a minor in criminal justice. He has worked as a police officer, criminal investigator for Customs Agency Service in the Treasury Department and as a special agent with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the Justice Department. After leaving the Justice Department, he taught law enforcement at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, where he also served as department chairman, Dean of Men and Dean of Students. Thormalen also worked as a middle school counselor in San Antonio. Claude also volunteered for 3 years in the 82nd Airborne Division and was discharged a Sgt. E-5

His book is The Right Side of the Law. According to the book description, “This fictionalized, realistic look at the life of a federal narcotics agent follows Alton Haymon, former special agent still suffering from post traumatic stress resulting from work with both the Treasury and Justice Departments as drug agencies were merged to form the DEA. The conflict between his honest desire to enforce his country’s laws and his need to protect his brother agents with whom he feels bonded is the major struggle of the book. Thefts of drugs and drug money and use of illegal wiretaps become common and agents’ drugs use is wide spread. This struggle between good and evil and Haymon’s continued risk taking causes his final collapse. Haymon, a broken 31-year-old man, resigns from what was up until then the most important thing in his life and finds himself living in the mountains of Western Colorado where, in a last desperate attempt at sanity, he writes his story.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 467 police officers (representing 197 police departments) and their 973 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.