In Wolf with a Badge, John Wolf, a retired veteran of thirty years with Broward County Florida law enforcement and his wife Arlene provide readers a vivid, behind-the-scenes look at police work.
Judith Erwin: Following your college graduation, you were accepted to three law schools and captured an interview with the FBI. However, you rejected law school because you werenโt accepted to the school you really wanted and rejected a potential career with the FBI because of their relocation policy. What led you to Broward County law enforcement?
John Wolf: There was an advertisement in a newspaper for a position with the police department. And I put in for it and ended up getting hired. But I really had no overt desire to be a police officer.
JE: In the course of your long career, what was your favorite part of the job?
JW: I enjoyed going to work. It’s an interesting job because you’re not just trying to survive the street, you’re trying to survive the system and people. I think the most interesting part of the job is dealing with people when you have a positive impact on their lives. What you watch on TV, which is a lot of brutality, isnโt a fair representation of the profession. Most police officers don’t go out looking to hurt, maim, brutalize. They’re just trying to do the right thing. A lot of times, they’re really maligned. There’s a perception out there that isn’t accurate.
JE: During your career, how much thought did you give to the physical risks of the job?
JW: When you’re younger, I don’t think that you dwell on it. When you get your five-year ribbon, there’s a lot of names. You get to ten years, and the names drop dramatically. You get to 15, 20, 25, 30 years, and you have maybe one or two names. You wonder what happened to all those people along the way. Some do get killed. Some quit. Some get psyched out. Some decide to do something else or go to other police departments. But it’s like walking through a minefield. You really don’t give thought to it until you see a sign that says, โEnd of Minefield.โ You know you’re getting hurt along the way. You’re meeting people like the guy who kicked me in the groin and the other guy who body slammed me through the table. You know you’re surviving these incidents but know that everything is numbers. The more people you come in contact with, the more calls you handle, the more people you stop, you’re just clicking those numbers. Sooner or later, you meet that one person you wish you never met.
JE: In the book, you describe some brutal scenes you witnessed. Do they haunt you?
JW: Yeah. That Christmas morning when a security guard committed suicide in front of his wife and two kids. Music was playing. Every time I hear that song, I’m back in that house. I have every detailโthe woman and the guttural sound she was making; the two children in pajamas, crying; and the visual of that guy under the Christmas tree.
JE: Was the incident described in the book that occurred on your first night on duty where a father had swung his infant through the screen of the TV a memory that haunts you?
JW: Yeah. The guy came to the door [Lauderhill Police Department], and the sergeant said, โSee what he wants.โ I unlocked the door, opened it, and said, โCan I help you?โ He said, โI think I hurt my baby.โ I brought him in, sat him down in the lobby, and walked back into the roll call room. The sergeant said, โWhat did he want?โ When I told him, everybody went running. In those days, we had television sets that were like a vacuum tube. My field training officer and I drove over there with a bunch of others. I had never seen anything like that. That picture stayed with me my entire career.
JE: I’ve heard police officers say that the most dreaded call they go on is a domestic violence call. Do you agree?
JW: They say traffic stops are dangerous. But domestic violence is very dangerous. It’s like dealing with a drunk. You can start off with a happy drunk, and then get a mean drunk, and then get a violent drunk. Things change in a heartbeat, like that guy in my book who was in the Marine Corps. When they [husband and wife] were arguing back and forth, it was between them. But the moment she said, โHow about I tell them you’re AWOL from the Marine Corps?โ everything stopped. He stopped speaking. We were just standing there. And it was almost like you put a cake in the oven, and you’re waiting for the bell to go off. I happened to be by the exit, so, he went after me first. She just stood there watching. That’s what you’re dealing with in those kinds of situations.
JE: What impact did your job have on your family?
JW: Well, you try to separate it. It’s hard because you have your own problems and you have all these other problems with all these other different people. And it’s not like you can come home and dump all that. It’s not fair. Not fair to your children or your spouse. So, a lot of stuff you internalize.
JE: As you reflect on your career. Have you ever had any regrets about the path you chose?
JW: Not really, because I consider that I have helped a lot of people. When I got into police work, I had a work background that was very, very labor-oriented, labor-intense. And I had a feeling for working people. When you help people, it’s very satisfying.
Thank you ย
Judith Erwin is a retired attorney, journalist, and award-winning author of romantic suspense and crime fiction, including the series Shepherd & Associates. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Florida Writers Association, and the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association.
