A Cop's Life: True Stories from the Heart Behind the Badge is a collection of twenty short stories by Las Vegas Police Department Sergeant Randy Sutton, that detail the experiences' law enforcement officers go through in the line of duty. It was published in 2005 by St. Martin’s Press. The twenty short stories are divided into five categories; The Beat, Line of Duty, War Stories, Officer Down, and Ground Zero.
After the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States of America on 11th September 2001, Sutton enlisted the help of his fellow officers in bringing together real-life events that influenced the short stories in the collection. The work was an attempt to bridge the wide gap between law enforcement and civilians, offering first-hand experiences of what officers have to go through and the judgments they have to make in a split second.
Sutton’s call for help in researching this collection was met with overwhelming responses from active and former duty officers who had insightful experiences that made putting together this collection an easy feat.
A Cop’s Life is a collection that truly represents the life and work of law enforcement officers in the United States of America. The stories are fully engaging as they tackle real-life crimes like murder, kidnapping, burglary, terrorism, and drug-related crimes. Civilians get a once in a lifetime look into the compromising situations like car pursuits, traffic stops, and monotonous investigative processes that put the lives of officers at great risk.
Law enforcement officers are constantly at risk of losing their lives and Sutton does not shy away from the grief and loss that law enforcement families have to go through when their loved ones die in the line of duty. Sutton provides law enforcement agencies a human face that helps them connect better with the people that they serve.
