Acknowledgments

This book is the culmination of a journey that began many years ago when, as a young police officer in Los Angeles, I killed a man to save my partner’s life. The journey would not have been successful without the help of numerous people over the years, so I take this space to thank them for their assistance.

My initial load of thanks goes to Bobby Hyde, John Spencer, Lyle Prideaux, and John Shaughnessy, my first two sets of training officers at the 77th Street Division of the LAPD. They put up with my naïveté, showed me the ropes, provided worthy counsel about many things, and most important, they gave me the skills to prevail on that warm night in July 1981 and in several other precarious situations during my tenure as a cop. Other senior officers who played key roles in my early police education include Billy Douglass, Steve Gross, Bob Rysdon, Ed Lindsey, and Nick MacArthur. I also had the pleasure of working for some top-notch supervisors: Joe Ramm, Howard Silverstein, Tim Anderson, and Jack Davenport chief among them. I thank all of these men, plus many other members of the LAPD—most notably, Frank Lipus, John Ix, Elmer Pelligrino, Ernie Haleck, and Ken Wiseman—for their kind support and for putting up with my rough edges in the wake of my visit to the kill zone. In a similar vein, thanks are in order to Steve Harris, Chuck Krieble, Ken Koenig, and the rest of the guys and gals I worked with at the Redmond PD as I wrestled with my experiences in the City of Angels.

I am quite grateful that I had many friends outside law enforcement who also provided support and encouragement in my time of need. Special thanks here go to Lauren Hanna, Andrea Merriman, Susan Bergstrom, Laurie Harris, Tommy Bartholomew, Marcel Moore, Greg Crum, Randy Kyte, Al George, Rob Wall, Casey Roberts, Pat and Al Robinson, Tom and Jane Falkenborg, Lu and Kim Gray, Bruce Wotherspoon, Kelly McAllister, the Shaw Family, Kathy Craig, Jeff Towery, Susan McWilliams, Rick Pearl, and Greg Mattingly.

Dick Bennett, Sandy Baxter, Jim Fyfe, and Ron Weiner at American University helped me shift gears from police work to academe. All four were wonderful teachers, friends, mentors, and advisers and have remained a presence in my professional and personal lives. A special thanks to Ron for suggesting the five-step interview process that I used in the study that led to this book. A special thanks to Jim for showing me how to bring an academic eye to the study of deadly force and for his friendship over the years.

George Bridges, Herb Costner, and Judy Howard at the University of Washington played especially large roles in getting me to the final step in my formal education. They taught me how to think like a sociologist, convinced me to broaden my research horizons, and helped me see how to develop the project that led to this book.

Jackie Hagan and Jan Chafetz at the University of Houston helped me turn my ofttimes turgid prose into readable text and thereby allowed me to secure the tenure I needed to undertake the project that resulted in this book. I also thank Nicky Parham and Alan Stoler, two students at U of H, for the assistance they provided as the project moved forward.

At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, I thank Jennifer Bursik for her input early on in the writing process and Richard Wright for his steadfast support throughout. It’s always good to have quality people in one’s corner. I also thank Laurie Mitchell and Jenna St. Cyr for the great job they did transcribing the hundreds of hours of tapes that I developed during the interviews I conducted.

A double thanks to Jenna for her input regarding the selection of some of the stories that appear in the book and for reading early drafts of material as I produced it. In this connection, I also thank Theresa Wall for reading the stories as I put them together and Cyn Morris, Callie Rennison, and Melody Martin for their suggestions on early drafts.

And last, but certainly not least where crafting this book is concerned, I thank Scott Hoffman, my agent at PMA Literary and Film Management, and Alan Rinzler, my editor at Jossey-Bass, for their diligent work in bringing it to print.

Thanks are also in order for Sam McQuade of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Robert Kaminski of the University of South Carolina. They both worked at the National Institute of Justice at the time I conducted the research that led to this book. I simply could not have conducted the research or written this book without their assistance. In this connection, I am obliged to point out that the research was funded as award number 97-IJ-CX-0029 from the Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, Department of Justice, and that the points of view in this book do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Thanks also to the several men and women who helped me identify the initial group of officers that I interviewed to set the research in motion. Identifying them might compromise the identity of some of the officers I interviewed, so they will remain anonymous. You know who you are and I thank you profusely.

Profuse thanks also to each of the officers who so graciously gave their time and trust to me during the course of the research. This book quite literally could not have been written without you. So thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Finally, I thank my family for their unwavering support over the years: My big sister, Debbie, for being there when I needed her. My little sister, Judy, for never doubting I could do it. My mom, for innumerable acts of generosity and for never letting me know how worried she was until long after I left law enforcement. My dad, for letting me vent when I needed to. And most especially, my wife and daughter.

Sonia has been my partner for nearly two decades, encouraging me every step of the way, putting up with my foibles, and sustaining me through thick and thin. Carly has been the apple of my eye since she came into this world a dozen years ago, bringing joy to my heart every day and always reminding me what’s important in life.

I thank you both for everything you’ve done to make this book possible.