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Cops and Writers is a podcast hosted by retired police sergeant and author, Patrick O'Donnell. The podcast provides valuable insights and humor for crime writers who want to create accurate and believable police stories. O'Donnell conducts in-depth interviews with members of law enforcement and civilian experts, discussing police procedures and culture. He also interviews crime fiction writers and writers from different genres, discussing what works in the ever-changing landscape of book sales and publishing. The podcast offers candid stories told with cop humor and technical details about the world of law enforcement.
295 Episodes
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Send us Fan Mail In this Last episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast bonus series, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 26, "The Howells vs. Pam From The Office," from his book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop BIG NEWS: The book launched yesterday and is LIVE NOW on Amazon (Kindle + Paperback). After weeks of heavy stories - triple homicides, kidnappings, dying declarations - tonight's different. It's a snowy Mil...
Send a text In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast bonus series, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 14, "Scooby-Doo Where Are You?" from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop You've probably seen it in movies or TV shows: a cop arrives at a crime scene, a victim is barely clinging to life, and with their final breath, they reveal who killed them. Case closed. Roll credits. Reality is messie...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast bonus series, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 33, "A Tale of Two Kidnappings," from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop With the Nancy Guthrie case dominating headlines, this chapter reveals what kidnapping calls are really like for cops—and the difference between what you see on TV and what actually happens on the streets. Most k...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast bonus series, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 32, "Wojo," from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop There were characters on the job who should have been stand-up comedians. Wojo was one of those guys. But one morning at 7:00 AM, Wojo got serious. A man barricaded himself in an apartment with a rifle pointed at his five-year-old so...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast bonus series, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 31, "All-City Assist," from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop Rachel and Patrick are processing a routine arrest at District Five when the radio crackles to life: "245B, they're shooting at us! Send us more squads!" It's Grace—Rachel's old partner—getting shot at in a gangway next to...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast bonus series, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 28, "Wow! That's Realistic!" from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop It's 2:00 AM at District Five. Patrick and his partner Rachel are processing an arrest when a bloodcurdling scream echoes from the front lobby: "Help! He's been shot!" What they find is a dead body with a gunshot wou...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell reads Chapter 18, Cannibal Dad, from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & Life as a Big City Cop Fresh off probation and officially a "real cop," Patrick rides for the first time without a senior officer alongside his academy classmate, Tommie. What starts as an exciting milestone—two rookies on top of the world—turns into one of the m...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O’Donnell reads Chapter 12, Pistol Packing Grandma Moses, from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos, & My Life as a Big City Cop While still a rookie cop "warhorsing" (filling in for other officers), Patrick partners with DJ, a 6'5", 300-pound gentle giant and former Chicago Bears. What starts as a routine 911 hang-up call and a tree branch banging...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast, retired Milwaukee Police Sergeant Patrick O’Donnell reads the Introduction and Chapter 1, Baptism By Fire! from his upcoming book: Police Stories: The Rookie Years — True Crime, Chaos, & My Life as a Big City Cop These are true stories from Patrick’s first years working the streets of Milwaukee during the height of the crack wars—stories of chaos, dark humor, tragedy, and survival that don’t make it onto TV shows. All stori...
Send us Fan Mail With historical shortages in law enforcement, today's departments have to find ways of augmenting positions that were traditionally filled by sworn law enforcement officers. One option is to have civilians working these jobs. On today’s show, we will be highlighting the trend in crime scene investigations being civilianized. Some departments have embraced this a long time ago, having 100% civilians in this role, have a blend of civilian and sworn, or have dug in their heels a...
Send us Fan Mail Today’s show will be especially helpful for you writers out there, or if you are curious to see what makes a full-time thriller author tick. On the show today, we have award-winning and bestselling author Nick Petrie, who just released his 9th book in the Peter Ash series, The Dark Time. His first novel, The Drifter, won the ITW Thriller and Barry Awards and was nominated for Edgar, Anthony, and Hammett Awards. He won the 2016 Literary Award from the Wisconsin Library Associa...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome everyone, to the conclusion of my interview with Professor and El Paso County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jennifer Bucholtz. Jennifer Bucholtz is a former U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent, and a decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Arizona University, a master’s degree in criminal justice from the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and a maste...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome everyone to part one of my interview with Professor and El Paso County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jennifer Bucholtz. The conclusion of this interview will air next Sunday! Jennifer Bucholtz is a former U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent and a decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Arizona University, a master’s degree in criminal justice from the City University of New York’s John Jay...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome everyone as we travel to the city of brotherly love and Rocky, Philadelphia. Today on the show, we have former Philadelphia warrant squad member Tristin Kilgallon. Tristin grew up in Philadelphia and started his career in law enforcement with the city’s Warrant Unit, tracking fugitives and working the tough streets of Philly. Tristin later moved to Ohio to attend law school, earning a JD and LLM. Tristin went on to teach pre-law and criminal justice for m...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome back everyone for the conclusion to my interview with retired Central Florida Sheriff Deputy Michael Dilks. Mike is a retired Deputy Sheriff and Police Officer with 23 years with experience in patrol, investigations, and undercover narcotics. Mike was a member of SWAT, the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the DEA Narcotics Task Force and supervised a Street Crimes Unit. Prior to his law enforcement career, Mike served three years in the Un...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome, everyone to part one of my interview with retired Central Florida Sheriff's Deputy Michael Dilks. The conclusion of this interview will air next Sunday! Mike is a retired Deputy Sheriff and Police Officer with 23 years of experience in patrol, investigations, and undercover narcotics. Mike was a member of SWAT, the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the DEA Narcotics Task Force and supervised a Street Crimes Unit. Prior to his law enforcement car...
Send us Fan Mail What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Not today. Welcome back, everyone, to the conclusion of my interview with retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant Jenn Benjamins. Jenn Benjamins is a retired sergeant from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with nearly 22 years of real-world experience in patrol, case investigations, and covert/undercover operations. Her interest in undercover work led her to the Vice Section, where she refused to be limi...
Send us Fan Mail What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Not today. Welcome, everyone, to part one of my interview with retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant Jenn Benjamins. The conclusion of this interview will be next Sunday! Jenn Benjamins is a retired sergeant from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with nearly 22 years of real-world experience in patrol, case investigations, and covert/undercover operations. She began her career in patrol before moving into Co...
Send us Fan Mail Hey everyone! Today, we are going north, way north, to the last frontier, Anchorage, Alaska, with Author and retired Anchorage Police Officer Doug Fifer. And we are getting kinky. Doug Fifer is a retired Alaskan police officer who specialized in crime scene analysis, deviant sexual crimes, hostage negotiations, and various special assignments throughout his twenty-five-year career. As a highly decorated investigator, Doug has negotiated with serial killers, solved homic...
Send us Fan Mail Welcome, everyone, to a special Cops and Writers Podcast. Due to the nature and timing of our topic today, I released this episode early. Back in late October, retired DEA Agents (legends) Steve Murphy, Wes Tabor, and Chris Feistl predicted on the Cops and Writers Podcast episodes 250 and 251, that the U.S. would take the fight to Maduro and attack on land. On January 3, 2026, the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores...
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