Foreword

Global interest in the world of policing has led to the success of countless television programs, such as NYPD Blue and Law & Order, films, the likes of The Departed and Training Day, and books, which include Blue Blood and Cop in the Hood. This book which I will roll out in the form of a blog (and which I hope to eventually find a publisher for), The Blue Hoax: An Insider's Truth About the NYPD, is based on my seven year tenure as a law enforcement officer with the New York City Police Department. It will serve as a tell-all memoir that pulls no punches in recounting my experiences, working within the most famous police agency of all. The non-fiction work will include observations from my career inside this publicly deceptive organization, which presents an image to the masses quite different from the reality at its core. The public has long been fascinated with American policing and cop culture, and the NYPD has always carried a particular element of magnetism. This blog will hopefully help to satiate that fascination while simultaneously blowing the doors off many misunderstood notions about "the job". The first chapter will kick things off by chronicling my decision to leave the NYPD following the savage attack of a woman and the subsequent attempt by the NYPD brass to downplay and cover-up the event. Future chapters will then go back in time to recall my career from its genesis through vested retirement in April of 2008.

The stories from this blog/book will satisfy cop buffs by providing a privileged look at the unique experiences of being a police officer in a major city, but it will delve further into the cop culture's underbelly than any writing on the NYPD ever has before, exposing the immoral practices imposed upon officers by the department's hierarchy. These are practices that need to be eliminated because they produce a strained relationship between the well-meaning, good intentioned officers of the NYPD and the public they are supposed to serve and protect. The blog will be at times humorous, at times self-deprecating, and at times disturbing -- but always honest. The Blue Hoax will hopefully draw its audience and a loyal readership from a public that hungers for police based entertainment, as well as the police officer community at large, which has gone so long without a truthful and honest voice. This will be much different from the very well known and rightfully acclaimed Blue Blood, because that work, though groundbreaking, failed to be honest and forthright about the darker side of the NYPD. Understandably so, since its author was an active member of the New York City Police Department who needed to be able to co-exist within its constrictive rank and file even after the book hit the shelves. I am beholden to no such restrictions. While I'm certain that some of what I have to say will anger those who read it, especially if they wear NYPD uniforms with gold collar brass signifying their membership in the hierarchy -- I care not, as it must be said. I will change the names of several of the players; both out of fear of retribution and because I believe it to be the morally upstanding thing to do, but all else will be presented unaltered and precisely as I recall it.

As for my background, I joined the NYPD in July of 2001 and worked with the agency until my retirement in April of 2008. During that stretch, I spent time in the 6th Precinct, the Grand Larceny Division, and with the Manhattan South Task Force. I exercised my early retirement option for a variety of reasons, which included the longing for a more "normal" life, a desire to spend more time with my family, and a core value system that wouldn't permit me to reconcile the way the NYPD operates with what I believe a police officer should be. During my law enforcement career, I was a well-respected and highly competent officer who excelled at my job. I was certainly not a superstar in the eyes of the top brass, because I often resisted inundating the public with excessive summonses and questioned protocols that I believed made no sense or might place me unnecessarily in harms way or a legal bind. I was however esteemed amongst my peers as a cop with a good head on my shoulders, an ability to perform solid police work, and someone you wanted watching your back. I am also a previously published writer who used to write for The Charleston City Paper in Charleston, SC. Additionally, I have taught English/Language Arts at St. Paul's Country Day Academy in Hollywood, SC. Today I co-own and operate a search and recruitment agency for pharmacists and other health care professionals. I received my education while attending the Peddie School, a renowned college preparatory school in NJ, and Kutztown State University in Pennsylvania, where I received a BA in English.

I thank you greatly for checking out my blog and hope that you will return in the coming weeks and months as I roll out new chapters one-by-one. I intend to publish Chapter 1 within the next week or so. If you like what you read please spread the word and share information on my blog with others that you believe will also enjoy it. Thank you.