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This autobiographical memoir of a Canadian police officer pulls no punches and immerses readers into the darkest sides of human behavior. From a twenty-something young man to senior citizenry, his long career encompasses incidents and involvements that most people would do whatever they could to avoid. Rupert did the opposite, and the chronicle of his experiences is the ultimate testament to perseverance.
His story begins when he moves from being a grocery store clerk to a policeman. Initial assignments take him undercover, trying to expose illegal gambling. From poker games to horse racing to cockfighting and more, Rupert covers his early years. After that, he moves on to highway duty, where he’s responsible for traffic violations, incidents, and accidents. That’s quickly followed by his time in community patrol, where breaking and entering, theft, robberies, prostitution, and more intermingle with neighborhood policing assignments. Where the officer’s book really takes off, however, is when Rupert becomes a member of the Identification Unit and begins to get heavily involved in crime scene investigations. From there, he covers a series of assaults, accidental deaths, suicides, and homicides that are often quite ghastly.
The author buttresses his memory of events with copious details that include drafts of criminal interrogations, extensive trial transcripts, newspaper reports, and much of his own crime scene photography. Many of the photos are graphic and depict difficult to view images. Throughout his narrative, however, Rupert maintains a degree of humor that gives a window into how he personally was able to cope with all he saw, heard, and experienced. For crime fans or those contemplating a career in law enforcement, this book provides a realistic depiction that fiction simply cannot match.