Cleveland Cops

The Real Stories They Tell Each Other

by John H. Tidyman

  • Format: Softcover, 256 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inches
  • ISBN: 978-1-59851-031-7
  • Price: $14.95
Description

Gritty, scary, hilarious, heartbreaking, and wild . . . these remarkable true stories will take you on the roller coaster ride that is life as a Cleveland police officer.

These are the real stories cops trade with each other after the shift, over a couple of beers. They're stories the rest of us rarely get to hear, because cops are often reluctant to open their world to outsiders. But writer John H. Tidyman got the officers talking, one-on-one, and now he shares their compelling personal tales with the rest of us.

Listen in as dozens of cops— active and retired, young and old, from rookie to chief— tell about their most memorable moments patrolling the streets of Cleveland. The biggest arrests, the dumbest criminals, the funniest practical jokes, the most frightening calls . . . Their stories will give you goose bumps on one page and make you laugh until you're gasping for breath on the next. Some hit like a punch in the gut, some will make you stop and wonder.

On this ride you'll get a front-seat look at one of the toughest jobs in town— and gain a better understanding of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to do it.

This collection is a real eye-opener, and great fun to read.

Foreword by Edward P. Kovacic, Chief of Police (retired), Cleveland Police Department.

Book Excerpt:
“ So my partner and I . . .”

Patrol Officer, Fourth District

In the fall of 1998, my first partner and I were in car 413. We were at East 143rd Street and Milverton Avenue. I was in the middle of a felony drug arrest when we heard a series of gunshots. It sounded like automatic gunfire. It turned out to be almost 40 blocks away, but I got on the radio and advised that I heard 15 or 20 rounds being fired.

A couple minutes later, I heard a call for shots fired into a house. It was around East 102nd Street. The front of the house was riddled with bullet holes. Turns out it was hit by an AK-47 on full automatic. Almost 40 bullet holes in the front of the house. This all happened around 12:30 or 1 o'clock in the morning.

I walked in the house. Immediately to my left was a room filled with a lot of people, mostly policemen. On the bed was a woman. The headboard of her bed faced the front of the house. Most of the bullets went right through her room. An AK-47 is a powerful round. Some of them went through the house and through the garage out back. The woman had been killed, shot to death while she was sleeping. Now remember, I only had about a year on the job at this time. The rounds had mutilated her; both of her eyes, for example, were gone.

But what shocked me was the way the family was handling it. Everyone was sitting at the dining room table, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. It was as if nothing happened, or it happened so often it wasn't worth getting upset about. The mother was killed because one of the kids at the table hadn't . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews
The book equivalent of a ride-along, as officers of all ranks and departments, from retired Cleveland police chief Ed Kovacic down to the cadets, talk about memorable CSIs and Murray Hill street blues. — Free Times
A fascinating collection of true tales from Cleveland police officers and retired officers . . . an honest look at what officers witness and experience every day . . . a great gift for a police officer or someone interested in the law enforcement profession. — Bedford Times-Register
Tidyman, once a police reporter for the Cleveland Press, has contributed to the literature of North Coast lawmen and lawbreakers . . . Some books are called great rides; Cleveland Cops is a ride-along . . . Not since the 1992 Working Vice, about Cleveland vice detective Lucie Duvall, has a book offered local readers the kinds of narratives one secretly hopes to hear when programming the latest frequencies on the Radio Shack scanner. — Free Times
If [this] new book by John H. Tidyman doesn't make you want to run right out and join the force, nothing will. — Medina County Gazette
Predictably, some of the stories are far too graphic to print here, both graphically funny and graphically tragic. — Sun Newspapers
About John H. Tidyman
John H. Tidyman

John Tidyman was ordered by his father to take a touch typing class the summer before high school. Tidyman often cites that incident as the reason he became a writer. After graduating from Lakewood High School, he was drafted and fought in the Vietnam War. He returned a 19-year "buck sergeant.”

Before he joined the Cleveland Press as a reporter, Tidyman worked as a waiter, a warehouseman, and an air freight agent. He is the author of eight books and has also written for almost every area publication. More About John H. Tidyman

Contains References to:

Boys in Blue, Buddy Cop, Civic Pride, Cleveland Crime, Cleveland Gangs, Cleveland Police, Cop Humor, In the Line of Duty, Law Enforcement, Police Academy, Police Chief , Police Force, Ride Along, Rookie Cops

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