The IACSP Q&A with former LAPD Detective Sergeant and Best-Selling Author Joseph Wambaugh

Interview by Paul Davis

Joseph
Wambaugh, 84, is a 14-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department and a popular
police novelist and true crime author. He is the author of classic crime novels
such as “The New Centurions,” The Choir Boys,” and “Hollywood Station.” He is
also the author of true crime books such as “The Onion Field,” Echoes in the
Darkness” and “The Blooding.”

His
books are known for their stark realism, blunt
language and abundant humor. Many critics and reviewers believe that no
other writer describes the cop world’s twin masks of comedy and tragedy as well
as Joseph Wambaugh.

Joseph Wambaugh was born in 1937 in East Pittsburgh. The son of a police officer, Wambaugh joined the Marines at 17, married his wife Dee in 1955, and graduated from California State University in 1960. He joined the LAPD that same year and served as a patrolman and later as a detective sergeant. He retired in 1974 to become a full-time writer.

Wambaugh received the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe special award for nonfiction for “The Onion Field” in 1974, and he won another Edgar award for best screenplay, “The Black Marble” in 1981. He also won the International Association of Crime Writer’s Rodolfo Walsh Prize for Investigative Journalism for “Lines and Shadows” in 1989.

Many of his novels and nonfiction books have been made into successful films and television programs, and he was the creator of “Police Story,” an award-winning and influential ...