L.A. Cops


Book Description

The name Samuel E. Turner, which Ive used for this book, belongsin realityto my maternal grandfather, but given the fact that he was laid to rest over fifty years ago, I doubt that hed much mind my borrowing it. After four previous books that were historical in nature, I decided that it was time to broaden my interests and have-a-go at fiction-writing (even though L.A. Cops is partially based on actual events and places in the Southwest). I am a product of the greater Los Angeles area, and prior to moving to northern California in the late 60s, I had worked in a bank in downtown L.A., spent several years as a cryptographer and historian (with the Air Force), graduated from a state university in the region, and was a secondary teacher in public schools in and around Los Angeles, then in Northern California for two more decades after relocating in the Sacramento area. Even though my wifeof 57 years--and I attended the same high school, we didnt meet until some years later. She and I are the parents of three great persons, and grandparents of four. Since retiring from the classroom in the early 90s, Ive spent time on the area waterways as a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, then when this became too strenuous, Ive devoted much of my free time to research and writinggenerally about Southern California and its residents.




L.A. Cop


Book Description

"These stories of the threats and triumphs of police work will put you in the middle of the action. Enjoy the adventure."




Gangster Squad


Book Description

"Read this man's book." --James Ellroy Gangster Squad presents a harrowing, edge-of-your-seat narrative of murder and secrets, revenge and heroism in the City of Angels—the real events behind the blockbuster Warner Brothers film starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. GANGSTER SQUAD chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. In 1946, the LAPD launched the Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing the strutting gangster Mickey Cohen. Sgt. Jack O'Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical maverick. About all they had in common was their obsession. So O'Mara set a trap to prove Mickey was a killer. And Wooters formed an alliance with Mickey's budding rival, Jack "The Enforcer" Whalen. Two cops -- two hoodlums. Their fates collided in the closing days of the 1950s, when late one night "The Enforcer" confronted Mickey and his crew. The aftermath would shake both LA's mob and police department, and signal the end of a defining era in the city's history. Warner Brothers developed the film Gangster Squad based on the research award-winning journalist Paul Lieberman conducted for this book, which reveals the unbelievable true stories behind the film. He spent more than a decade tracking down and interviewing surviving members of the real police unit as well as families and associates of the mobsters they pursued. Gangster Squad is a tour-de-force narrative reminiscent of LA Confidential.




One Time: The Story of a South Central Los Angeles Police Officer


Book Description

A hardcore look into the mind of a patrol officer working in South Central Los Angeles. The author uses personal testimony to illustrate how "Da Hood" changed him from a "community base" police officer into an aggressive predator of gang members. The LAPD recruitment posters forgot to mention that he would be shot at, called an "Uncle Tom," and treated like an outsiders by his partners because he grew up and lived in the neighborhood he patrolled. The employment pamphlets failed to describe the helplessness he would feel while handling rape investigations or the sadness he would have to block out at homicide scenes. Nothing prepared him for what he would experience. His Bachelors degree did not prepare him for a career with the LAPD. Growing up with gang members did not prepare him for the streets as a cop. The only adequate preparation he had was his religious beliefs. He was prepared to die.




L. A. 's Last Street Cop


Book Description

This gripping memoir vividly recounts the career of a gifted and fearless Los Angeles police officer in the late 1970s and early 1980s as he battled gangs and dealt with multiple homicidal situations on gritty city streets. It culminates in his vocal stand against corruption within the L.A.P.D., and the political retribution that ensued, including a dirty internal investigation and the murderous vendetta of a violent member of the Aryan Brotherhood.




The War on Cops


Book Description

Violent crime has been rising sharply in many American cities after two decades of decline. Homicides jumped nearly 17 percent in 2015 in the largest 50 cities, the biggest one-year increase since 1993. The reason is what Heather Mac Donald first identified nationally as the “Ferguson effect”: Since the 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, officers have been backing off of proactive policing, and criminals are becoming emboldened. This book expands on Mac Donald’s groundbreaking and controversial reporting on the Ferguson effect and the criminal-justice system. It deconstructs the central narrative of the Black Lives Matter movement: that racist cops are the greatest threat to young black males. On the contrary, it is criminals and gangbangers who are responsible for the high black homicide death rate. The War on Cops exposes the truth about officer use of force and explodes the conceit of “mass incarceration.” A rigorous analysis of data shows that crime, not race, drives police actions and prison rates. The growth of proactive policing in the 1990s, along with lengthened sentences for violent crime, saved thousands of minority lives. In fact, Mac Donald argues, no government agency is more dedicated to the proposition that “black lives matter” than today’s data-driven, accountable police department. Mac Donald gives voice to the many residents of high-crime neighborhoods who want proactive policing. She warns that race-based attacks on the criminal-justice system, from the White House on down, are eroding the authority of law and putting lives at risk. This book is a call for a more honest and informed debate about policing, crime, and race.




The Lazarus Files


Book Description

A deeply-reported, riveting account of a cold case murder in Los Angeles, unsolved until DNA evidence implicated a shocking suspect – a female detective within the LAPD’s own ranks. On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old newlywed Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in the home she shared with her husband, John. The crime scene suggested a ferocious struggle, and police initially assumed it was a burglary gone awry. Before her death, Sherri had confided to her parents that an ex-girlfriend of John’s, a Los Angeles police officer, had threatened her. The Rasmussens urged the LAPD to investigate the ex-girlfriend, but the original detectives only pursued burglary suspects, and the case went cold. DNA analysis did not exist when Sherri was murdered. Decades later, a swab from a bite mark on Sherri’s arm revealed her killer was in fact female, not male. A DNA match led to the arrest and conviction of veteran LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus, John’s onetime girlfriend. The Lazarus Files delivers the visceral experience of being inside a real-life murder mystery. McGough reconstructs the lives of Sherri, John and Stephanie; the love triangle that led to Sherri’s murder; and the homicide investigation that followed. Was Stephanie protected by her fellow officers? What did the LAPD know, and when did they know it? Are there other LAPD cold cases with a police connection that remain unsolved?










Manson


Book Description

Based on new interviews, this revealing account of one of the most notorious criminals in American history puts Manson in the context of his times, the turbulent end of the 60s, revealing a rock star wannabe whose killings were directly related to his musical ambitions. After more than forty years, Charles Manson continues to mystify and fascinate us. Manson and members of his mostly female commune killed nine people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate. Now, drawing on new information, the author tells the definitive story of how this ordinary juvenile delinquent became a murderer whose crimes still shock and horrify today.