PUBLISHER

Let Us Know What You Did, How You Did It,
What Worked — And what didn’t.

You’ll notice in American COP we regularly use articles submitted by readers. Readers would, technically, be you. While our own crew is damn good (the best, by the way), the legions of “You guys out there” know even more. Lots more, as a matter of fact. So this is my sorta regular pitch to get you to drop Suzi an email or give her a call and pitch her an article.

Does it seem scary to do that? Not because you’re scared of Suzi, of course (although a fair warning may be in order in that regard, speaking from personal experience …), but maybe because you’ve never written anything before? And no, police reports don’t count as writing, nor do college papers, staff reports, incident reports (although they certainly inspire pretty good articles at times), personnel reviews or that detailed analysis of the coffee fund you did last year. None of that counts. Sorry.

But if you’re not scared of working alone on graveyard, don’t let the thought of writing an article keep you from reaching for that phone and calling. We can help you through the mechanics, and even make sure you push all the right buttons on the digital camera you have. The only real thing you have to do is decide on what you feel most strongly about — then tell us about it.

Are you a detective working crimes against persons? Do you see reports from beat cops lacking key points at times? Now’s your chance to change things. Get with Suzi and she’ll help you get your thoughts down so they make sense. Then we can share what you know with the whole world, and help other detectives who wrestle with similar issues.

Are you a senior street cop with some expertise in a certain area? Maybe you’ve just worked a tough transient problem, or honed in on a certain area of your town to clean it up. Let us know what you did, how you did it, what worked — and what didn’t. We guarantee thousands of other cops out there are grappling with their own similar set of problems and looking for ways to solve them.

Guys like John Morrison, who writes our Street Level column, and Jerry Boyd, who keeps us thinking with his From the Chief column, were all “just cops,” and now they try to help out other cops by sharing their decades of frontline experience. Other “just cops” write the features and columns you read in each issue, and each have things they feel strongly about, have some experience with and take the time to share whey they’ve learned. And you can do it too.

I’ll let you in on a secret. Few things in life are as satisfying as seeing your idea, your thoughts, your solutions, what saved a life, what stopped a crime from happening — on a printed page. Knowing what you wrote will help other cops directly is extremely fulfilling. You have the knowledge, now do more with it so it doesn’t go to waste.

Think of something you feel strongly about, then drop Suzi an email at suzi@americancopmagazine.
com or call her at (888) 315-3644 and let her know what it is. We’re actual human beings here and don’t bite. Well … mostly don’t bite. Just do it, okay?
By Roy Huntington

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