Law Enforcement Jobs

So, you’re seriously considering a job in law enforcement. But, you have questions – What’s the job really like? How do I apply? Where can I find openings? What is the process like? How can I score the highest possible?

These are important questions. Indeed, anyone who has gone through the application process for a law enforcement job knows it is critical to score as high as possible. It’s your score that gets you in the door. Remember – the highest scores are passed on to the next phase of the application process for a law enforcement job and they are the ones who ultimately become the cop on the beat, the homicide detective, SWAT or tactical officer; or, even a future chief of police.

But, those dreams never happen if you don’t score as well as possible. Every cop gets asked these questions and two of them have taken the time to write down the answers. First, the Police Officer Exam, 3rd Edition, was edited by Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA. Many of the questions were updated to reflect current testing. More importantly, entire passages were re-written or developed to give you practical, down-to-earth advice on the process. Detective Lieutenant Barry Baker, Baltimore Police Department (ret.), has written “Becoming a Police Officer: An Insider’s Guide to a Career in Law Enforcement.” Lieutenant Baker’s book not only helps you with the process, but helps to visualize your career and to make that career happen.

Lieutenants Foster and Baker give you a coast-to-coast perspective on a career in law enforcement and the one-two punch you need to score high, get the job and begin your career. You need both books to be successful. Order both books today!

Click here for more information on the books

Police-Writers.com now hosts 420 police officers (representing 183 police departments) and their 894 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.

Ohio Police Writers

Editor's Note: One writer is Vietnam Veteran

March 27, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added three police writers from departments in the state of Ohio.

Drafted into the United States Army at age 19, and the height of the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, Joseph Reass found himself suddenly transformed from a naïve teenager into a rifleman in the 25th Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Regiment. Arriving in Vietnam as a Private First Class, he survived a year of combat with the famed “Manchu” Regiment and returned to the United States with the rank of Sergeant. Back at home, he readjusted to civilian life by continuing his education. Earning a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Capital University and a master’s degree from Ohio University in Political Science, Joe put the war behind him and reentered the world.

After a 25 year career with Columbus Police Department (Ohio), including 13 years as a criminal investigator, he retired in 1997. Returning to Ohio University as a member of the faculty, he currently teaches in the Bachelor of Criminal Justice Program and is the director of the Southern Ohio Police Training Institute.

Joseph Reass’ first novel is Dragon Men. According to the book description, “In it he depicts real events pulled from long clouded memories of his combat experiences in Vietnam. Pieced together and told by a fictitious protagonist, David Reno, the story brings into perspective, true events, honest, tragic and even humorous that young men of Charlie Company, 4th Brigade, 9th Regiment, faced in the unconventional combat of the Vietnam War.

Along with graphic descriptions of combat and death, there are insights into men who served and how they coped with difficult situations of surviving not only the fighting, but the arduous life in the boonies. Live with young soldiers who deal with extreme situations of war, weather and military life.

It is an honest story that will interest anyone who served in combat, who want an unglorified glimpse of combat life or anyone who likes personal adventures told by real characters.”

David Swords is a retired Police Lieutenant, having served thirty years with the Springfield Police Department (Ohio). Nearly half of his police career was spent as an investigator, working on cases ranging from simple vandalisms to armed robberies and murders. His varied experience has given him a unique understanding of human nature; an understanding that brings the characters of “Shadows on the Soul” to life in the mind of the reader.

In David Swords’ book his proposes the questions what would have happened in the Nazis had won and the United States was occupied territory. According to his book description, “the story takes you with John as he tries his best to live a normal life as a government official in the 1960’s America that might have been - Nazi occupied America. John’s normal life is disrupted as he reluctantly helps a prisoner who has escaped from a labor camp; a man imprisoned for no crime, except the color of his skin.”

Edward A. Stein, Sr., a 35 year veteran of the Cleveland Police Department published an autobiography entitled My Badge is My Intergity.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 420 police officers (representing 183 police departments) and their 894 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.

Enlisted Advisor's Presence in China Visits Highlights NCO Importance

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

March 27, 2007 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff emphasized just how important U.S. military leaders believe noncommissioned officers are by including his senior enlisted advisor in all his talks with senior Japanese and Chinese leaders. Marine Gen. Peter Pace made sure that Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey was in on every meeting, dinner and exercise during the weeklong trip March 19-27.

"It raised some eyebrows, especially with the Chinese," a Joint Staff official traveling with Pace said. "They are not used to enlisted personnel being anything more than technicians."

The general sees Gainey's participation as a plus for all involved. He gets another set of eyes examining problems, and the foreign military leaders get a firsthand look at what NCOs bring to the table.

"I think the Chinese have a much better understanding (of the role of NCOs in the U.S. military)," Pace said during an interview. "But because they don't have that concept in their military, they still don't have a complete understanding of what our NCO corps is all about."

Pace took every opportunity to talk about the sergeant major and his place in the NCO corps and how important the U.S. NCO corps is to American military success.

"I think that resonated with the Chinese," he said. "Having him side by side with me was a projection to the Chinese of the whole cloth of the leadership of our armed forces."

The chairman wants more military-to-military contacts between the United States and China. For his part, Gainey wants to see that some of those contacts are between NCOs.

The sergeant major offered to sponsor a senior Chinese NCO during the next Chinese delegation to visit Washington. "I hope they will allow the NCO to visit me, and I will have him meet with a group of U.S. NCOs," Gainey said during an interview. "It's important we create understanding between the militaries. The NCO corps is basic to understanding the U.S. military."

In China, NCOs are not trainers as they are in the United States.

"I had a full briefing on their NCO and enlisted policies by their (chief of personnel)," he said. "The general and I talked about how he could establish an NCO corps. He was taken aback by how General Pace would allow me to have as much authority. They were very open about it. The general told me that he could not understand it.

"I explained to him that General Pace delegates authority, but he cannot delegate responsibility," Gainey continued.

Gainey accompanied Pace to a military exercise at Dalian Military Training Area. The sergeant major, an Army scout, noticed that every tank or armored personnel carrier was commanded by an officer. "In our tank platoon, we have one officer and the tank commanders are NCOs," he said.

Follow-up will be interesting, Gainey said. He said he plans to work with the chairman and the Joint Staff to promote military-to-military contacts.

"I think we learned a lot from each other, and I think we broke some new, very positive ground," he said of the Chinese. "We need to keep moving."

Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.

Arizona Group Honors One of State's Soldiers

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

March 27, 2007 – A letter from a soldier added bittersweet importance to Packages From Home's participation in Tucson Navy Week's weekend activities at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and an Arizona Diamondbacks preseason baseball game. Kathleen Lewis, founder of the Phoenix-based troop-support group, received a letter March 15 from Army Staff Sgt. Darrel Kasson thanking her for the last of the three care packages the group had sent him in Iraq. The letter touched Lewis, and she planned to send the soldier a "really, really great box" the following Saturday.

"Friday morning I got the call, and he had been killed in action with (a roadside bomb)," Lewis said. "What we decided to do was take our weekend -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- and dedicate it to him."

It seemed appropriate, since Kasson was from the Tucson area and the group would be spending March 16-18 there, she said. The group offered those who attended the Tucson Navy Week a chance to leave personal messages to Kasson's family at both venues.

"We had lines at our booth ... for people to sign their sentiments to both our troops and to Staff Sergeant Kasson and his family," she said. "The same was true at the Diamondbacks' game."

In addition, Packages From Home included a note in each box packed that weekend indicating the package was being sent in his honor and memory, Lewis said.

"It's never easy to hear when you lose one of your soldiers," she said. "With Sergeant Kasson, I had his letter ... on my counter and I had big plans for him.

"So we did things a little bit differently," she added.

Packages From Home is a member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which highlights what Americans and the corporate sector are doing to support the nation's military members and their families.

While honoring Kasson, Lewis said, she and her volunteers also got to spread the word about how others could help support servicemembers like him. At times, 10 to 20 people were at the booth, curious to learn more about Packages From Home and America Supports You.

With so many visitors to the state in the spring, it was a golden opportunity, she said

"Someone might come to our booth and (think Packages From Home is just an Arizona group)," she said. "We wanted to say, ... 'You can go to America Supports You and find out where in your state you can join a group like ours.'"

Packages From Home also was able to arrange a public service announcement about the group and America Supports You during a pre-season game. Lewis said the group hopes to work with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the state's hockey team, the Coyotes, in the future to help encourage fans to support the troops.

"As I've said a thousand times, the best of America is in Iraq and Afghanistan today," Lewis said. "That's where our best citizens are, and I love them so much."

That love is evident in the more than 85,000 packages the group has shipped to deployed servicemembers since March 2004, she said.

Tucson Navy Week, which took place March 14-20, is a weeklong series of awareness events held in conjunction with Major League Baseball Spring Training and Aerospace & Arizona Days. Twenty-six Navy weeks are planned across the country to show Americans the investment they have made in their Navy and increase awareness in cities that do not have a significant everyday Navy presence.

Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.

USS John C. Stennis Now Operating in Persian Gulf

American Forces Press Service

March 27, 2007 – The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis entered the Persian Gulf today escorted by the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam. While in the gulf, the flagship of the USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group and its air wing, Carrier Air Wing 9, will conduct a dual-carrier exercise with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. This marks the first time the Stennis and Eisenhower strike groups have operated together in a joint exercise while deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

"This exercise demonstrates the importance of both strike groups' ability to plan and conduct dual task force operations as part of the U.S. long-standing commitment to maintaining maritime security and stability in this region," officials said.

Two air wings from the aircraft carriers will conduct air warfare exercises, while the surface components will conduct exercises in three general disciplines: anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare.

John C. Stennis left its homeport of Bremerton, Wash., on Jan. 16 for deployment and began operating alongside coalition maritime forces in the region Feb. 19. After arriving, the strike group began conducting maritime security operations and providing direct support to coalition ground forces participating in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. During the 33 days of operations over Afghanistan, Carrier Air Wing 9 provided close-air support and reconnaissance to International Security Assistance Force troops on the ground.

Maritime security operations help set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment, as well as complement counterterrorism and security efforts of regional nations. These operations deny international terrorists use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material, officials said.

The Carrier Air Wing 9 squadrons include the "Black Knights" of Strike Fighter Squadron 154, "Blue Diamonds" of Strike Fighter Squadron 146, "Argonauts" of Strike Fighter Squadron 147, "Death Rattlers" of Marine Strike Fighter Squadron 323, "Yellowjackets" of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 138, "Golden Hawks" of Carrier Early Warning Squadron 112, "Topcats" of Sea Control Squadron 31, "Eightballers" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 8, and "Providers" of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30.

The John C. Stennis Strike Group includes John C. Stennis, Carrier Air Wing 9, Destroyer Squadron 21, USS Antietam, the guided-missile destroyers USS O'Kane and USS Preble, and the fast combat-support ship USNS Bridge. More than 6,500 sailors and Marines are assigned to the strike group.

Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.

U.S.-Turkey Relationship Vital to National Security, Gates Says

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

March 27, 2007 – The U.S. relationship with Turkey is "under valued and under appreciated" and the country's geographical position is vitally important to security challenges facing the U.S., Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today told the American-Turkish Council. Gates spoke to about 500 attendees at a D.C. luncheon during the council's annual conference. The ATC is a business association that promotes commercial, defense, technology and cultural relations between the two countries.

In the 20-minute speech, the defense secretary acknowledged that U.S.-Turkey relations have had struggles in recent years, but added, "Our military, economic, political and personal ties remain strong."

He heralded Turkey's $175 million role in the Joint Strike Fighter program. The country has agreed to buy 100 of the F-35 Lightning II supersonic stealth fighters in development.

Gates also commended the country for allowing 16 U.S. Navy ships to make port calls there in 2006.

In support of the war on terror, Turkey has commanded two rotations of NATO's International Security Assistance Force and a provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan, and has provided the U.S. access to Iraq through an air base in Turkey. Without that access, Gates said, operations in Iraq would be "exceedingly more difficult and vastly more expensive."

Still, all relationships need work to remain strong, the secretary said.

"The two nations should oppose measures and rhetoric that needlessly and destructively antagonize each other. That includes symbolic resolutions by the United States Congress as well as the type of anti-American and extremist rhetoric that sometimes finds a home in Turkey's political discourse," Gates said.

Gates conceded that the war in Iraq is a point of contention for Turkey, as well as many of America's allies. Adding to the tension is fighting on the Turkey-Iraq border against fighters for the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as PKK.

"The situation on Turkey's border with Iraq's Kurdish region is of particular concern," Gates said. "Every Turkey citizen killed by the PKK is a setback for success in Iraq and a setback in our relationship with Turkey."

Gates said he has tapped former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston as special envoy for countering the PKK, but acknowledged, "We know more needs to be done."

Regarding the situation in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, the new Multinational Force Iraq commander, is applying "sound counterinsurgency principles" that are aimed at giving the newly established Iraqi government breathing room, Gates said. Coalition forces are securing and holding neighborhoods, and the Iraqi government has committed the forces need to secure its capitol, he added.

He said, though, that Iraq's disposition will not be finally determined by military action, but by the political influence of its neighbors in the region.

"Whatever disagreements we might have over how we got to this point in Iraq, the consequences of a failed state in Iraq, of chaos there, will adversely affect every member of the Atlantic alliance and none more so than Turkey," he said.

"Iraq's neighbors will need to play a constructive role going forward even if they haven't done so in the past -- especially in encouraging political reconciliation and a reduction in violence within Iraq. This is certainly the case with Syria and Iran. They have not been helpful," Gates said.

He called recent talks in Baghdad "a good start," but said that the U.S. is "open to higher level exchanges."

Finally, Gates called Iraq's future an interest and a responsibility "that we will not abandon."

"Abandoning Iraq and leaving regional chaos in the wake clearly would be an offense to our interests as well as our values and a set back for the cause of freedom as well as the goal of stability," Gates said.

"In this strategic environment we have to be willing to spend the resources, absorb the costs, take the risks and meet the commitments we make to one another. It means having the creditability, ingenuity and skill to dissuade and divide our potential adversaries while reassuring and uniting our friends."

Gates closed his remarks with the Turkish proverb, "A wise man remembers his friends at all times, a fool only when he has need of them."

"The United States and Turkey have wisely remembered our friendship at all times," he said.

Article sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.

Crime fiction and other police procedurals

Editor's Note: Two of the three are retired military

March 27, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books, added three writers of crime fiction.

Robert Ruble quit high school to join the United States Marine Corps (USMC), where he was hoping for Korea, but instead was selected to be a Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego. Later he changed his specialty to Tank Crewman. He left the Marine Corps and joined the Tampa Police Department. After a few years as a police officer he re-enlisted in the Marine Corps and served a 20 year career, including two tours in Vietnam.

After retirement from the USMC, he worked for a variety of law enforcement agencies culminating his law enforcement career as the Chief of Police of the Kennesaw Police Department (Georgia). He was their chief from 1980 through 1986. He has written two thrillers - Have No Mercy and Black Rosebud: Have No Mercy II

George Galjan was born in 1942 in Berlin, Germany. In 1956, he immigrated to the United States with his family. After high school, he enlisted in the Navy. He served two tours in Vietnam and later transferred to the Navy Reserves. He retired from the Reserves with the rank of senior chief. In 1969, George Galjan joined the Cleveland Police Department. He retired in 1998, at the rank of lieutenant.

George Galjan’s book, Cops, Donuts and Murder, is a mystery set in the City of Cleveland. As one reviewer/reader remarked, “This is the best mystery book I've read for quite sometime. It is filled with twists and interesting characters. The ending was a total surprise. The book is written using dialog and it is so true-to-life that I couldn't put it down.”

Earl Kratzer is a retired Detective Sergeant from the Cleveland Police Department. During his career he worked on a number of interesting cases and is the recipient of the Rotary Valor Award for Heroism Beyond the Call of Duty. His book, My Baby, My Baby, is a classic police procedural that follows “a fictional account of a child abduction that is set in Cleveland, Ohio. The twists and turns that develop while the detectives are investigating this case, show the reader what actually occurs while following leads a criminal investigation.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 417 police officers (representing 182 police departments) and their 891 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.