My guest to today is Joseph Wambaugh. Joe is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States. Several of his first novels were set in Los Angeles, California, and its surroundings, and featured Los Angeles police officers as protagonists. He has been nominated for 4 Edgar Awards (winning 3), and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

The son of a police officer, Wambaugh was born in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He joined the United States Marine Corps at age 17 and married at 18. Wambaugh received an associate of arts degree from Chaffey College and joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1960. He served for 14 years, rising through the ranks from patrolman to detective sergeant. He also attended California State University, Los Angeles, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees.