The good folks over at The Outfit Collective, an oft-visited, celebrated blog examining life and crime in Chicago, will be celebrating BUY INDIE DAY in style on Friday, May 1, 2009. Various Chicago authors will be scattered about the Chicago area at independent bookstores to invite readers into these worthy establishments and highlight the importance of these independent outposts. Check out The Outfit's posting here: http://theoutfitcollective.blogspot.com/2009/04/take-break-shake-that-frown-reassess.html.
A few of Daniel P. Smith's favorite spots: Centuries and Sleuths in Forest Park and The Frugal Muse in Darien.
Independent booksellers are a vital cog in Chicago's literary scene. Please support these businesses on Friday, May 1 and throughout the year.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Ask the Author: There are many stereotypes out there about cops and their lives. Do
Answer: I’ve always believed that stereotypes have some basis in reality. For instance, divorce and alcoholism appear far too often in the ranks of the Chicago Police Department and really law enforcement agencies throughout the country. To characterize all cops as womanizing drunks, however, is as narrow-minded as turning a blind eye to the presence, however slim or great, of that reality. So are there stereotypes out there about cops that have validity? You bet. But I’d warn of putting every officer you meet in that basket, which is of course the danger of any stereotype. One of the refreshing things I learned myself in conducting these private interviews was how many officers broke some of the most common stereotypes associated with Chicago officers. I found men and women with reflective minds, advanced degrees, spiritual grounding, and without a trace of the tough-guy, cynical attitude.
I’ll add this, though. I believe that many of the negative stereotypes we hold of cops (prejudiced and cynical, for instance) are based in all human psyches. Yet, being police officers, seeing what they do on a daily basis, accelerates and heightens those traits. The intense environment in which so many officers work brings some of those human flaws to the surface at a rapid pace for so many, but being a cop does not alone activate those flaws. I think that’s an important distinction we all need to realize. These cops are just like us. They sat next to us in grade school, stand behind us in grocery lines, and pray next to us in church pews. They are among us, not distinct from us.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools.
Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event. Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
I’ll add this, though. I believe that many of the negative stereotypes we hold of cops (prejudiced and cynical, for instance) are based in all human psyches. Yet, being police officers, seeing what they do on a daily basis, accelerates and heightens those traits. The intense environment in which so many officers work brings some of those human flaws to the surface at a rapid pace for so many, but being a cop does not alone activate those flaws. I think that’s an important distinction we all need to realize. These cops are just like us. They sat next to us in grade school, stand behind us in grocery lines, and pray next to us in church pews. They are among us, not distinct from us.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools.
Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event. Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chicago Magazine asks Can Cameras Replace Cops? On the Job author responds
In the March 2009 edition of Chicago Magazine, a cover story asked "Can Cameras Replace Cops?" In a detailed story exploring the skyrocketing use of technology in the police world, reporter Noah Isackson mixed diverse perspectives, factual details, and identifiable trends to examine the issue and impact of cameras and police work in Chicago.
In response to Isackson's report, On the Job author Daniel P. Smith penned a Letter to the Editor, which appeared in the May 2009 edition of the magazine. Here is Smith's response in its entirety:
Losing the Chicago Way
Noah Isackson’s March story “Can Cameras Replace Cops?” highlighted a disturbing trend: the sharp movement away from human intelligence and community-based policing.
While technology has its place and certainly its prospects, it cannot and should not overtake the mix of officer acumen and community help in disrupting crime. If we wanted to know the tangible cost of a safe city, Superintendent Jody Weis provided it with his recent budget cuts to CAPS: $5.3 million, a 41 percent drop from 2000.
While CAPS is not perfect, it has been lauded across the country and copied by departments big and small for one simple reason—a proven track record. CAPS does not shy away from a hands-on, personal approach that plants the seeds of prevention and community support, essential elements to the city’s success in battling crime.
Loyola University criminologist Arthur Lurigio is right—“You need a big toolbox to be effective in a big, complicated city like Chicago,” he said—and Supt. Weis has made the department’s biggest sledge hammer a soft-faced mallet with his truncated investment in CAPS.
With the department’s slashing of a key program, limited police manpower, the perceived lack of leadership support, and the addition of cameras to squad cars, Chicago is slowly becoming what many retired and veteran city police officers feared most: cops afraid to do anything.
And that’s certainly not the Chicago Way.
In response to Isackson's report, On the Job author Daniel P. Smith penned a Letter to the Editor, which appeared in the May 2009 edition of the magazine. Here is Smith's response in its entirety:
Losing the Chicago Way
Noah Isackson’s March story “Can Cameras Replace Cops?” highlighted a disturbing trend: the sharp movement away from human intelligence and community-based policing.
While technology has its place and certainly its prospects, it cannot and should not overtake the mix of officer acumen and community help in disrupting crime. If we wanted to know the tangible cost of a safe city, Superintendent Jody Weis provided it with his recent budget cuts to CAPS: $5.3 million, a 41 percent drop from 2000.
While CAPS is not perfect, it has been lauded across the country and copied by departments big and small for one simple reason—a proven track record. CAPS does not shy away from a hands-on, personal approach that plants the seeds of prevention and community support, essential elements to the city’s success in battling crime.
Loyola University criminologist Arthur Lurigio is right—“You need a big toolbox to be effective in a big, complicated city like Chicago,” he said—and Supt. Weis has made the department’s biggest sledge hammer a soft-faced mallet with his truncated investment in CAPS.
With the department’s slashing of a key program, limited police manpower, the perceived lack of leadership support, and the addition of cameras to squad cars, Chicago is slowly becoming what many retired and veteran city police officers feared most: cops afraid to do anything.
And that’s certainly not the Chicago Way.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Ask the Author: How different is life when you grow up in a cop family?
(From Beth at Prairie Trails Public Library)
My father was a Chicago cop, but my folks divorced when I was three. He left the department soon after that and has played little role in my life since. I wouldn’t say growing up in a cop family is different, but there’s certainly an awareness to crime that I think many of my contemporaries ignore. For example, I’m double checking that my car and house doors are locked. I have to sit in restaurants facing the door. I look in my rear view mirrors at stoplights. Such daily routines are entirely a product of my upbringing and the knowledge that crime can strike, particularly if one is careless. Other than that, growing up in a cop family led to some interesting dinner conversations; I got to know plenty about Chicago’s underbelly, civic landscape, and character. I can honestly say I was more "aware" of the city and its reality on a variety of fronts, including social, political, historical, and geographical.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event.
Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
My father was a Chicago cop, but my folks divorced when I was three. He left the department soon after that and has played little role in my life since. I wouldn’t say growing up in a cop family is different, but there’s certainly an awareness to crime that I think many of my contemporaries ignore. For example, I’m double checking that my car and house doors are locked. I have to sit in restaurants facing the door. I look in my rear view mirrors at stoplights. Such daily routines are entirely a product of my upbringing and the knowledge that crime can strike, particularly if one is careless. Other than that, growing up in a cop family led to some interesting dinner conversations; I got to know plenty about Chicago’s underbelly, civic landscape, and character. I can honestly say I was more "aware" of the city and its reality on a variety of fronts, including social, political, historical, and geographical.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event.
Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
On the Job Author at the Orland Park Library
On the Job author Daniel P. Smith will be presenting his author program, "The Path to On the Job: Murder, Reflection, and Where TV Cop Shows Fail," at the Orland Park Public Library on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 7pm. The program is free and open to the public.
For additional information, please visit: http://calendar.orlandparklibrary.org/.
For additional information, please visit: http://calendar.orlandparklibrary.org/.
Thursday, April 23 @ 7pm
Orland Park Library
14921 Ravinia Avenue
Orland Park, IL 60462
708-428-5100
Monday, April 13, 2009
Ask the Author: How much research went into On the Job?
Answer: I suppose I had been unknowingly researching this book for years as I listened to my uncles, brother, and others tell their Chicago Police stories, but my work didn't officially begin until late 2004. My initial research was all interviews and ride-alongs. From there, I wrote a first draft. This first draft, however, was merely 19 magazine-length personality profiles. One story wasn't connected to the next except by the subjects’ shared occupation and city. From there, Lake Claremont Press Publisher Sharon Woodhouse and I agreed that the book needed a reinvention, a more fluid and connected structure. Over the next months, I read everything I could get my hands on regarding the CPD as the book's reinvention took shape. I then divided the book into four units: a look at Chicago's criminal landscape; history of CPD; culture and organization of CPD; and, finally, the psychology of being the CPD. Each intro has an approximately 4,000-word intro and is then followed by the 4-6 personality profiles that relate to that unit heading. For example, in the history unit I speak with an officer from the '68 Democratic National Convention and then follow his career forward.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event.
Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event.
Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Ask the Author: How did the idea for On the Job come about and how did you find a publisher?
Answer: I was teaching English at a high school in the western suburbs and gave my sophomore classes (about 75 students) the assignment of finding a character in any of Studs Terkel’s books and, then, analyzing how that character felt about his or her place in life and society. A number of the students, maybe as many as twenty, selected police officers and right there I noted their natural curiosity about law enforcement work. I lumped that onto my own experience from a Chicago Police family in which people were frequently curious to know more about that line of work and On the Job was born—at least conceptually.
At the end of the school year, I took early retirement from teaching and began pursuing the writing life. With the idea for On the Job in my mind in the summer of 2004, I came across a Chicago Tribune Magazine interview with Sharon Woodhouse of Lake Claremont Press and I knew I had my match. I sent a query letter and heard back from Lake Claremont in less than a week. They requested a full book proposal and I obliged. They later accepted the proposal and we moved ahead on the project beginning in November 2004.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event.
Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
At the end of the school year, I took early retirement from teaching and began pursuing the writing life. With the idea for On the Job in my mind in the summer of 2004, I came across a Chicago Tribune Magazine interview with Sharon Woodhouse of Lake Claremont Press and I knew I had my match. I sent a query letter and heard back from Lake Claremont in less than a week. They requested a full book proposal and I obliged. They later accepted the proposal and we moved ahead on the project beginning in November 2004.
Ask the Author is a running series of live audience or reader questions directed at On the Job author Daniel P. Smith. The series, which appears each Monday, is aimed at providing greater insight into Smith’s work in researching and writing On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department as well as the book’s content. A speaker noted for his energy and engaging style, Smith is available for presentations at a wide range of events, including private book clubs, Citizen Police Academy meetings, libraries, senior centers, and schools. Please contact him directly at smithwriting@gmail.com to schedule an event.
Are you a reader with a question for On the Job author Daniel P. Smith? Send it to smithwriting@gmail.com.
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