Book on Boulder Police Department

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by ACandyRose, May 22, 2003.

  1. ACandyRose

    ACandyRose Super Moderator

    I just found this. It looks like it might be interesting for those who may want to get some background history on the Boulder Police Department. The book write up mentions the JonBenet Ramsey murder case also.

    http://www.thebooklode.com/Behindba.html

    352 page-illustrated (150 photos) paperback will retail for $19.95. Limited number of hardbacks at $29.95 will be available in June. Published by The Book Lode, LLC

    ISBN 1-891274-08-2 (paperback)
    ISBN 1-891274-09-0 (hardback)

    =====================================
    BEHIND THE BADGE
    125 YEARS OF THE BOULDER, COLORADO, POLICE DEPARTMENT

    BEHIND THE BADGE offers a new look at Boulder’s past. Beginning with the formation of the Boulder Police Department in 1878, this journalistic narrative takes the reader through a fast-paced progression of challenges, innovations, setbacks, and triumphs. With a human-interest approach and 150 photographs, the book is packed with both high-profile and little-known crimes. It also features the department’s marshals and chiefs, pulling into its dragnet many of Boulder’s most colorful characters.

    Author Silvia Pettem has done a tremendous amount of research to bring to you a behind- the-badge look at policing in Boulder. She really brings to life the events and the stories of the people behind them.

    Enjoy the book. I hope you find it as interesting and informative as I do.

    Mark R. Beckner, Chief of Police
    Boulder Police Department

    =====================================
     
  2. RiverRat

    RiverRat FFJ Sr. Member Extraordinaire (Pictured at Lef

    Thanks for the Heads-Up, ACR!

    http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/city_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2422_1990412,00.html

    Boulder Police history chronicled
    125 years marked with publishing of book

    By Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writer
    May 26, 2003

    Competing brothels and intoxicated townsmen were the most pressing problems facing Boulder's newly formed police force in the late 1800s, according to a book chronicling the 125-year history of the Boulder Police Department.

    The book "Behind the Badge," available now online and in book stores next month, details the oftentimes colorful history of the department.

    "There are a lot of good stories in there," said Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner, who came up with the idea of commissioning a book to commemorate the department's century and a quarter of existence. "We had archive files, but no one place were someone could go and get a look at the Police Department over the past 125 years."

    Now there is — in the 340-page book that cites century-old documents as well as people working at the department today.

    Author Silvia Pettem, a local historian and Daily Camera columnist, said the book took her a year to put together.

    "I was surprised how much information is out there when you start digging," Pettem said. "The history of the Boulder Police Department really parallels the history of Boulder."

    Beckner said the events chronicled in the book "shaped the department to

    what it is today." His favorites are the human-interest stories behind the people who have worked or work for the department — "things most people wouldn't know."

    That includes histories of the earliest "marshals" in Boulder and the city's only narcotics-sniffing snake, named Arlo, who made a brief appearance in 1980 when the city was thrust into the national spotlight as being a mecca for cocaine sellers and users.

    "Behind the Badge" looks at some of the quirky cases Boulder police have had to handle, such as nudists at Coot Lake in the 1980s, and more serious topics, such as the most recent officer killed in the line of duty: Beth Haynes, in April 1994, during a response to a domestic dispute.

    Two chapters are dedicated to the department's most notorious case, the 1996 JonBenet Ramsey homicide. Chief Beckner is quoted in the book as saying it is the "most significant, controversial, media-grabbing case in the Boulder Police Department's whole 125-year history."

    The book includes 150 photographs, some from the 1800s of prostitutes and brothels and other more recent shots of high-tech police gear used for things such as bomb detection.

    Beckner said he is confident the cost to publish the book, about $2,000, will at least be matched by its sales.

    "We didn't want to spend taxpayer money, but we had to up front," he said.

    To order a copy of the book for $19.68, or $16.68 each if ordering two or more, not including a $5 shipping and handling fee, visit www.thebooklode.com/Behindba.html. Those prices are good until the end of the month. Behind the Badge will be available at local bookstores by mid-June.
     
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