On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department

Inspired by his family's roots as Chicago Police members, award-winning journalist Daniel P. Smith draws the curtain to reveal the officers of the Chicago Police Department and their personal stories. Whether on the frontlines of a bloody battle over gangland turf or at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, from officers who battle personal demons to those who celebrate the adrenaline of the chase, this resource peers into a world of individuals trying to simultaneously balance work demands with the needs of their own private lives. Far from the imaginative portrayals sprouting from American television, the honest and sincere stories shared in the book are of those who carry the Chicago Police star alongside their life’s ambitions, responsibilities, and realities.

The police stars, CPD clothes, and cop cars we see every day.

The Chicago Police Department is a mythical and legendary law enforcement unit as well as a closed-door society. In On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department, Daniel P. Smith draws the curtain to reveal the officers and their personal stories. Smith, an award-winning journalist and the product of a Chicago Police family, explores the work/life juxtaposition of the men and wome--mothers and fathers, realists and idealists, cynics and consolers--who don the Chicago Police star.

From officers on the frontlines of a bloody battle over gangland turf to those at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, from those who battle personal demons to those who celebrate the adrenaline of the chase, On the Job peers into a world of individuals trying to simultaneously balance work demands with the demands of their own private lives. Far from the imaginative portrayals sprouting from American televisions, On the Job shares the honest and sincere stories of those who carry the Chicago Police star alongside their life's ambitions, responsibilities, and realities.

It's the hearts, scars, and families behind the uniform we never see.

Daniel P. Smith is an award-winning, nationally published journalist and a former high school English teacher. He lives in Chicago. Already an award-winning, nationally published journalist, Daniel P. Smith left his second career as a high school English teacher behind in 2004 to pursue the writing life. Less than five months removed from the classroom and 23 years old, Smith teamed with Chicago-based Lake Claremont Press to write On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department, inspired by his roots in a Chicago Police family. In August 2007, he appeared on the History Channel's Our Generation series discussing the 1968 Democratic National Convention and Chicago Police response. He is presently working with photographer and fellow Chicagoan Brian Palm on a project sharing the stories and images of Chicago's disappearing buildings. A 2003 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was an accomplished track and field athlete, Smith lives in the city's western suburbs with his wife Tina and dog Dublin.