Weekend Buff

The Choirboys - by Joseph Wambaugh

Joseph Wambaugh died last week at the age of 88. He was a former LAPD cop, former Marine, and fantastic writer. His novels and non-fiction books tell the tales of the police and police work. Wambaugh was able to capture the lives of cops like very few authors have done. He was able to introduce the problems, pain, and pitfalls of police work to the American people.

He wrote his first novel, The New Centurions, while he was still on the job in 1971. By 1974 his writing career had taken off and he left the LAPD to pursue writing full time. Shortly thereafter he released the novel The Choirboys in 1975. A fantastic novel of an LAPD patrol squad and our recommendation for this installment of Weekend Buff.

The Choirboys is written in a time-regressive manner. The book starts with the LAPD hierarchy’s dealing with a shooting incident in MacArthur Park involving off duty cops. Politics and egos are heavily in play in this intro, as they often are at the upper ranks where police work and politics begin to merge.

The story then flashes back to before this mysterious shooting incident and the characters change. The protagonists of the book are introduced as 3^rd platoon patrol cops in the Wilshire Police Division.

These cops are not the heroes in blue that we might have hoped for. Each character is a model of a particular type of cop that Wambaugh worked with over his career. The crusty old veteran still on patrol, the scammer out looking for a deal, the go along to get along cop, the heavy-handed bully, the over-educated cop that doesn’t quite fit in, a couple of mentally scarred Vietnam vets; the characters of Wambaughs past are all here and portrayed in extremis.

This motley crew of stereotypes spend their post tour hours getting drunk in MacArthur Park, just outside of their division boundaries. It is here that their carefully constructed emotional walls and defense mechanism can take some time off and briefly crumble. Drinking to excess and beyond has become a normal part of their lives and their primary coping mechanism.

The knowledge of the impeding shooting incident looms over the entire book. The flaws in each of the characters foreshadow all the possible things that can go wrong. Each cop, in his own way, is a potential time bomb of stress and failings. Each one could have a different terrible outcome.

From a cop’s perspective we have seen these guys before. Perhaps not to the extreme that may have existed in early 70’s LAPD, (police work now is more professional and less violent) but they are still present. Reading the book felt like a dystopic trip down memory lane from the cast of characters to the politics of the police department. Wambaugh’s stereotypes are spot on. His view of the arbitrariness of police discipline is also on target. Cops get away with some things, but a minor slip up can sometimes lead to career disaster.

LAPD even has CUE-BOW, Conduct Unbecoming and Officer, a catchall for punishing behavior that didn’t quite make it into the rule book. The NYPD had the same thing, Patrol Guide 220-3 (5) – Engaging in behavior prejudicial to the good order, efficiency, or discipline of the Department. In other words, when they want to get you, they get you. This book explores the inherent tension between bosses and street cops.

Joseph Wambaugh

The Choirboys runs about 400 pages, but it is a very quick read. Wambaugh’s character development alone is worth the read, but the plot also keeps the reader engaged right to the end. I picked up a copy from my local library, but you can get it on Amazon for a song ($8.50). A great novel from a great author that will have you checking out his other works.

Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!