The Boogie Man Is My Friend: Behind The Shield by Kathryn Loving

"Many people have asked me over the years if being a police officer was difficult. I guess at times it was, but I didn't think of it that way.  It became a part of me, who I had become.

During my career in law enforcement I think my response may have evolved over the years to a description of "police work is automatic."  The latter answer made me pause and think once it spewed of arrogance which was not the meaning I intended.  The old man who had asked me the familiar question was puzzled.  I guess I had been doing it for so many years that the work had become automatic, but not as a negative connotation.  The man was the last person to hear that explanation.  That was my last day of work.

To me, automatic meant it was a part of me - it was who I was (in true Popeye speak).  Once something is a part of you, you don't have to analyze everything or evaluate each step of the challenges you faced as an officer.  You reacted in a natural way with ease and you gave quick responses and intelligent solutions.  After I finished police work, I was still posed that question.  People are curious by nature of the profession.  I began to answer those questions with, "It was perfect for me.  I like to help people."  It was a somewhat indirect answer to a direct question.

As the years wore on, the more deviant a person was in a case, the more he or she fascinated me.  The more bizarre, the more I wanted to be on scene.  Extraordinary became the new ordinary.  Police work truly is the front row seat to pure entertainment and I bathed in it.  I wrote down all those events - some ordinary, some not so.  What does that mean since my definition of ordinary might not be the norm?  In fact, your extraordinary may be my ordinary.  I guess you will have to read the book to find out."


I truly enjoyed this book.  I became familiar with this author by reading her blog "The Boogie Man is My Friend" (http://mommafargo.blogspot.com).  In this book, she shares some of the escapades that she and her brothers and sisters in blue were involved in.  I admire her honesty and courage, she shares her thoughts and actions where alot of officers wouldn't.  This is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone that enjoys reading about true crime.  I look forward to reading more of her fiction and non-fiction.