So you want to be a police officer (or deputy sheriff or state trooper), this is the book for you. I entered law enforcement as a sworn officer at age 21 and was unprepared for what lay ahead. It was trial by fire and hard lessons learned via errors. But I survived, and my career took off to great heights. These are the stories from before I moved into supervisory roles. The early assignments included patrol officer, field training officer, property crimes detective, undercover narcotics officer, juvenile officer (for only one month), and swat operator. My book Past the Uniform is autobiographical and a fabulous resource for those wishing to enter the exciting, ever-changing, and challenging world of law enforcement. For those police veterans, it is a beautiful remembrance. For the general public, do you enjoy reality-based police television shows? Ever wonder what it is like to be on the other side of a 9-1-1 call? Come along for the ride. View the world through the windshield of a patrol car and look behind the yellow tape of crime scenes. Join a recruit and his field training officer as they face the joys and frustrations of society as it cries out for help. See life within the hushed culture of the police organization. Discover the hurdles facing someone fresh out of the academy. This book is an inside look at the human side of being a police officer, past the uniform and the standoffish blue wall of fabric. You will never look at policing the same way again. Past the Uniform has excellent and real stories like "The Melting Pot" - a Jamaican male driving a German BMW, carrying Colombian cocaine in an English suitcase in possession of a stolen American Smith and Wesson handgun, and now getting a Cuban lawyer. Or "It Is Only a Juvenile" - a six foot four inch, 225 pounds 17-year-old who can bench press a Buick and wants to fight the police: these and many more stories from the exciting world of policing. You can read them all in Past the Uniform. Roll call is over, and we are now ready to patrol.