I just finished a Joseph Wambaugh novel titled "Hollywood Moon." It was a book I hated to finish. 

I've read all of Wambaugh’s 19 books and must say his books, above any other literature, inspired me to become a police officer. I think his work has had a huge impact on a lot of police officers from my generation.

If you enjoy these columns, you will most certainly enjoy Joseph Wambaugh’s books. Many of his older books were made into movies, including: "The New Centurions," "The Blue Knight," "The Choirboys" and "The Onion Field." Wambaugh was also responsible for an outstanding television series in the '70s titled Police Story.

All of Wambaugh’s books portray police officers as human beings with quirks, foibles and problems like everyone else. His books are humorous in some parts, tragic in others and very timely about developing crime trends. 

His latest three books - "Hollywood Station," "Hollywood Crows" and "Hollywood Moon" - are set in the Hollywood District of the Los Angeles Police Department and have some great recurring characters - like two surfer cops nicknamed “Flotsam” and “Jetsam” and a detective nicknamed “Compassionate Charlie” who's anything but.

The characters in Wambaugh’s books are realistic portrayals of police officers and the criminals they chase.

His criminals driven by greed, revenge, substance abuse and psychopathology (the terms psychopath and sociopath have swapped being in vogue several times in my career, but to investigators, both mean someone who lacks conscience). They're not master criminals. They're mostly lazy screw ups and are victims of fate, chance, stupidity and good police work - just like real crooks.

Wambaugh’s dialogue between the cops is what you hear in police cars, briefing rooms and detective bureaus. His cops work their way through the up and downs of their careers using humor. Like real cops, Wambaugh’s are involved in interesting incidents that progress the plot - but most capers are not the action-packed car chases, explosions and gun fights you see in movies. Wambaugh is a master at showing how a group of very different personalities, working as a team on a shift, get the job done. Just like the real police do.

No two days are ever the same in police work. Whether a police officer is on the road or behind a desk, you just never know when “the big one” might come in. That is the call you train for throughout your career, and perhaps even dread its arrival, but in the end, if the citizens you protect, your shift and you make it out safely, there is no greater feeling of triumph and accomplishment. 

Times like those or times when officers laugh loudest (out of the public’s eye) are the fondest memories for cops and make the best “war stories.” On Wambaugh’s website, he discusses how he mines those stories from current cops to craft his novels.

One of Wambaugh’s characters in the first of his Hollywood trilogy, "Hollywood Station," was a veteran sergeant with 46 years on the LAPD. He told his officers in briefing, “Doing good police work is more fun than anything you’ll ever do in your entire lives.” 

The wise sergeant, nicknamed “the Oracle,” would then challenge his officers to go have some fun! In my case, good police work may not be the most fun I’ve had, but it’s right up there. If you enjoy police stories, reading a Wambaugh novel is pretty high on the fun meter too.

Thank you Mr. Wambaugh for the inspiration that lasted an entire career. Police work was as you advertised.

Lock it up, don’t leave it unattended, be aware and watch out for your neighbors.

Rich Kinsey is a retired Ann Arbor police detective sergeant who now blogs about crime and safety for AnnArbor.com.