Adam Plantinga holds a B.A. in English with a second major in Criminology/Law Studies from Marquette University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude in 1995. Plantinga's short story Untitled was included in the anthology 25 and Under/Fiction and Washington Post book critic George Garrett called it his candidate for the best story in the book. He has written thirteen nonfiction articles on various aspects of police work for the literary magazine The Cresset, published by the Valparaiso University Press. Plantinga was a City of Milwaukee Police Officer from 2001 to 2008, including time spent as a Field Training Officer. He is currently a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and daughters.
Gritty, funny, and truthful, "400 Things Cops Know" will surprise
you on nearly every page ... and give you a new respect for the cop
on the street. --Edward Conlon, bestselling author of "Blue Blood"
and "Red on Red"
I've dog-eared every other page of this magnificent, insightful
book. Plantinga's frank, dark comic tone provides insight into a
world most people only read about or see portrayed, incorrectly, in
movies and TV. "400 Things Cops Know" gets it right. --Stephen Jay
Schwartz, L.A. Times bestselling author of "Boulevard and Beat"
The author pulls no punches or keeps any secrets. "400 Things Cops
Know" delves into topics not normally on most people's minds, but
at some point things they may have wondered about ... an intimate
look at what really happens in police work. --John M. Wills, New
York Journal of Books
A precise, concise, interesting, insightful and a necessary read
for police officers, those contemplating police work, as well as
those wanting to understand policing in society today. Written by a
practitioner with experience and knowledge of policing who has put
his observations, interactions and insights into the written word.
Once you begin to read this book you continue to want to hear more.
Well worth the readers time and money. --Michael G. Krzewinski,
Ph.D., retired director of training, Milwaukee Police
Department
Funny and rueful ... many fascinating trade secrets here.
--Katharine Whittemore, Boston Globe
An extremely engaging read. As a writer I found it very beneficial
as a reference and there was a lot of information that I could
glean from it in my current works. --Christina Escamilla
The canon of cop lit is broad and deep ... Adam Plantinga's book
stands alone ... a nuanced, complex portrait of the life cops lead.
-- Bill Mesce, Jr., New Letters
Eye-opening, funny, heartbreaking, and enlightening ... Plantinga
walks a fine line between loyalty to the uniform and honesty with
the public. --Glenn Dallas, San Francisco Book Review
For writers of crime fiction, this book is a gold mine ... It's by
turn fascinating, informative, funny, and heartbreaking, often more
than one simultaneously. --Dana King, One Bite at a Time
Essential for crime writers and anyone interested in the reality of
police work. --George Pelecanos
Riveting and often humorous ... an unusually frank insider's view.
--The San Francisco Chronicle
As well as being an entertaining look at the daily lives of the men
in blue, this book is an excellent resource for crime writers. Many
of Plantinga's observations are laugh-out-loud funny and others
will make readers sit back and wonder about the state of the world.
Given the recent focus on the behavior of certain police officers
in America, this book provides a savvy insider's look at the other
side of the story. --Bev Vincent, Onyx Reviews
The new Bible for crime writers. --The Wall Street Journal
Adam Plantinga's hard-earned, street-wise practical wisdom shines
on every page of this book -- as does his unsentimental compassion
and desire to make the world a better place. Reading it will help
good cops become better, and the rest of us to better appreciate
the hard work cops do. This book is wise, but it's also hilarious.
--Paul J. Contino, Seaver Professor of Humanities, Pepperdine
University
Loaded with insights, criticisms, witticisms, and inside references
... threaded into stories of driving fast, taking down tough guys
and righting wrongs, a low-key morality surfaces. Delivered without
a heavy hand and mixed with unrelenting honesty about police
shortcomings, admiration for the profession is complex, but hard to
resist. --Lou Fancher, Contra Costa Times
[Plantinga's] observations about life as a street cop ... are
practical and blunt when they aren't funny, heart-rending or
chilling. My next manuscript with a police officer as a character
will be checked against this book. I highly recommend it. --Warren
Bull, Writers Who Kill
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