About the Book

Forever Blue is a memoir of four decades spent inside the world of police work. It follows the author’s 27-year career which included both rural and urban law enforcement. During this time, Carl Ross served in patrol, investigations, special operations, and in administrative positions. He retired an area commander in late 1999 but continues from the sidelines as a volunteer. Among the book’s over 225 true stories are events that range from the ridiculous to the heart-breaking and from frustration to fulfillment.

The following samples of the book’s stories give a glimpse of the variety of experiences in store for the reader: two ways to trap yourself outside a patrol car; what not to wear when digging up a suspicious mound of earth; holsters can let you down in an awkward moment; nightmarish emergency calls; staring down knives; foot chases that hurt; how police officers help their own in bad times; a shotgun too close; when coffee is better in a dirty mug than in a clean pot; a year-long hunt for one that got away; how SWAT was too good for the federal trainers; repetitive saluting does not indicate sobriety; cops that made mistakes and cops that went bad; the city inspector we couldn’t let inside; officers killed but remembered; the negligee threat; a motorcycle gang’s convenient funeral; climbing inside the Statue of Liberty; door-to-door steak salesmen and a hidden revolver; using profanity in church is a bad habit even when hunting a burglar; the “Strike Force” that wasn’t; and chain link fences doing their job.

Ride along with Carl Ross as he meets honest citizens, drunks, thieves, drug dealers, murderers, and even politicians. Learn why police work is not for everyone and how it can become the ultimate life choice for others.