Dreams in Blue: The Real Police

by Richard Neal Huffman

I was born a sharecropper's son outside of Kennett, Missouri. My parents migrated to lower Michigan when I was two. I became infatuated with law enforcement, my childhood heroes being old west marshals and sheriffs. I grew up defending the weak and timid and then put on the uniform of the U.S. Army to defend my country during Vietnam. My primary MOS, or military occupational speciality, was as a medic. I went on to also serve as a clerk, tank crewman, intelligence specialist and a military policeman. I realized my ultimate dream when I became a certified police officer in the fall of 1980. I served as a patrolman, sergeant, detective, training officer and assistant chief of police. I held a license for six years as a private investigator. I served as a village councilman and then as mayor. This is my story, Dreams in Blue.

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Chriss · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was captured by the title, "Dreams in Blue" and thought that I was going to learn about the author growing up with aspirations of being in law enforcement, then fulfilling his dreams and motivating others to follow their dreams. Maybe even put some myths to rest that he thought were true but learned weren't. Basically I thought it would be something of a motivational journey through the eyes of the author. This was not the case! While reading, I felt a sense of anger coming from him, especially when he goes off topic and brings up his political service and the mudslinging that took place on the city board. I felt like I was reading a tabloid account and was completely turned off by the book at this point. It seemed that a generally well conceived idea to put a career choice into words turned into an angry letter to the editor in book form. I would have been more interested in reading this if he would have taken out all the rants and left in his experiences related to the topic.