Author(s): Stacy Dittrich

True Crime

At the age of 23, Stacy Dittrich became the first female officer hired by her town in Ohio. In Stumbling Along the Beat, Dittrich reveals, for the first time, what she really faced when she put on her uniform and badge. In this uncensored account, she takes the reader behind the scenes to show the realities of life inside a local police department. She lays bare the discrimination she faced, the ugly politics within the department, and how she finally won the respect she deserved. Reflecting on her years of work in the sex crimes unit, Dittrich tells how she learned to keep her composure in the face of some of the most horrifying and heartbreaking crimes imaginable. Finally, she reveals her daily struggle to balance her work with her life as the mother of two young daughters and the wife of a fellow police officer, including the fear that when she kisses her family good-bye to go to work, it might be for the last time.

Funny, moving, and fast-paced, "Stumbling Along the Beat" is as unforgettable as it is eye-opening. Dittrich's story will obliterate any preconceived notions of what it means to be a cop, especially when you're also a woman.

About the author:
Stacy Dittrich is an award-winning law enforcement officer and former detective specializing in sex crimes. With training by former FBI Behavioral Specialist and bestselling author, Roy Hazelwood, Stacy is certified through the National Institute of Truth Verification as an examiner (CVSA lie detector). Stacy has also been assigned to a federal drug task force that resulted in arrests from California to Mexico and has been involved in the investigations of numerous homicides. In 2002, Stacy received the Victims of Crime Award from former Ohio Attorney General, Jim Petro. A certified law enforcement instructor, Stacy is also a media consultant in the area of law enforcement. Prior to her law enforcement career, Stacy explored a brief modeling career in New York, where she appeared in Allure Magazine. Stacy is a member of the International Thriller Writer's Association, Sisters in Crime, and a regular contributor on Women in Crime Ink, a new web blog made up of an impressive group of award-winning true-crime authors, print and broadcast journalists, crime novelists, producers for CNN and CBS News, television personalities, and criminal justice professionals. She has appeared as a law enforcement commentator on War On Crime and CNN. Stacy comes from a long line of law enforcement as her husband, father, and uncles are police officers.