Articles and Interviews
Once cops pin on the badge, they can’t go back
Attractive police hiring bonuses are not the solution. We can’t pay people enough to be cops. The problem is that the public reduces police work to “Just another job.” It’s not. I was a cop from 1994 to 2020. For cops who survive such years, it’s because we’re living our dream.
I wore many hats and helmets. One was Recruit Training Officer (Drill Instructor at Police Academy). I found that recruits perusing their lifelong dream would make it. Those joining for money will fail. They lack essential “resilience”.
Once cops pin on the badge, they can’t go back to the person they were—They can’t unsee the horrors waiting.
The story of a Police Officer is a story of a dream. Sadly, their dreams became a nightmare. We need great cops. Raise your children to be brave and compassionate adults. Their Recruit Training Officer will take care of the rest.
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Author pens exciting adventure based on true-life experience
“After being at Mount Pinatubo and experiencing the second largest volcanic eruption of the last century,” Clifford says, “I knew I had to tell a story about it.” It was June, 1991 and Clifford was stationed on Luzon, the largest of the Philippines’ 7,641 islands. He was living in the jungle with his troops when he was called back to base because the volcano had erupted. “I looked up and saw a huge cloud. It was an unbelievable cataclysmic experience,” he recalls, “literally putting us under ash.” Clifford always wondered why this wasn’t a huge story. “It was an epic disaster in every sense, like living through an apocalypse.” …
The Phuck It Bucket
Eddy and I slip away to San Juliana on a tassel-strewn, shiny red jeepney to meet my girl and her friends. The platoon calls Eddy Torres “E.T.” Eddy prefers just “E” – he doesn’t share movie E.T.’s desire to go home. He loves every sin that the Philippines offers. He says he wants to be buried here …
It’s A Book Thing
Henry David Thoreau wrote, “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” I will never claim that Typhoon Coast is an autobiography. On the other hand, every single detail has a pure life nexus. Writers must write from a place they know. Those places have a voice. Listen …
