I’ve been saying for a couple months now that want to write a chapter-by-chapter dissection of Beyond Hope? on this blog space. Since today is New Year’s Eve, it is a good jumping off point. I’ll try to post a few times each month and get through the book by the end of the year. Hopefully, this series will provide some interesting insight into the thoughts and the writing process that went into Beyond Hope? Please feel free to comment and/or ask questions as we move through this process.
Today’s entry will be brief as it only covers the Foreword to Beyond Hope? I thought it extremely important to “set the table” for Beyond Hope? by providing some background about the book and its author. And, while I thought it important for readers to know about me and where and how my views on life have been formed, it was even more important to open the door a little and let readers take a quick peek at Saginaw before shoving them head-long into this place I often find to be so surreal.
Unless you’ve been to Saginaw, Michigan, for an extended period of time, I think it is hard to understand the educational and economic dynamic that has made this city such a violent and often racially divided palce. There are other cities in Michigan and around the nation - Flint, Detroit, Gary, Indiana, and others come to mind - that I am sure rival Saginaw in terms of violence and desperation. I had never lived in any city like Saginaw prior to moving here. My views were formed in cities like Port Huron (similar economics, but few racial issues), Mt. Pleasant and Big Rapids (towns driven by the universities which call them home) and Ann Arbor (an educational and cultural experience all its own). My move to Saginaw - ranked #1 in the country for violent crime among cities with 40,000+ populations in 2006 - was as jolting as a lightening bolt to the head.
At the very least, the foreword of Beyond Hope? takes the reader knee-deep into the ocean of violence in which I am trying to let them swim.
The other main point I wanted to make in this Foreword can be summed up in one word: Humility. Cops are often perceived by the public as self-center jackasses who like to boss around and harass folks simply for the sake of doing so. Even within cops circles, egos can become titanic in size. One thing I did not want to do while writing this book was paint myself as a hero to civilians or other cops. That’s just not me. I am what I would like to consider an average cop. I take my calls for service, I do some pro-active policing and I have tried in recent years - as a Field Training Officer, as a Departmental Recruiter, as a Background Investigator and now as a Patrol Sergeant - to give guidance and advice to younger officers coming to the department like I did some 16 years ago. There are many other officers around the country, around the state of Michigan and within my own department, who are much better cops than I might ever be. So, just because I like to writerabout my experiences, I did not want to come across as some self-glorifying ego-maniac. I have been recognized with some awards from the Saginaw Police Department during my career. But those were more circumstances of being in the right place at the right time and having to act than they were any heroic acts of bravery. Most cops I know simlply want to do their job, do it as best they can and maybe along the way save a few lives and help some people out. Oh, and the steady paycheck is nice too.
But for me, the helping people part has extended to the keyboard. I want to help people who are interested understand this world of violence, hatred, fear and self-doubt where urban cops work every day.
The next entry on this blog space will start . . . well, at the beginning, as we go through “Knock, knock. . . .” the story of my first night in Saginaw.
Thanks for stopping by.