Interview with Carolyn Whiting the Co-author of “The Crazy Lives of Police Wives”

In May we published an article written by Carolyn Whiting the co-author of “The Crazy Lives of Police Wives” and I asked her if she would sit down and speak with CopsAlive.com about the book and her experiences as a former police officer and police wife.

Carolyn Whiting was a police officer for six years and she met Bob, her husband of twenty five years, while working in the same Police department. Carolyn retired due to a back injury and has been a housewife for the past twenty two years while her husband continues to work at the same department where they met. He has over thirty six years in law enforcement. Carolyn has a BA in Geography and was halfway through her MBA when she left graduate school to pursue her life-long dream of being a Police Officer, a decision she has not regretted.

The book is available at Amazon.com in both a paperback and Kindle version as well as at Barnes & Noble in paperback and for the nook.

Carolyn told me that the idea for the book came about after a discussion she had 3 or 4 years ago with… her minister’s wife who was talking about going to a conference where the older minister’s wives helped the younger ones, and told them what it was like being a minister’s wife, and helped them acclimate into that life. Carolyn said she thought “Wow” wouldn’t it be great if there was something like that shared information and provided mentoring for police wives. She started talking to other wives and then communicating with other police wives online on the various police wives social media sites.

Here are links to the police wife organizations that CopsAlive.com is aware of:

The National Police Wives Association

Wives Behind The Badge

Police Wives Inc

She met her co-author Carolyn LaRoche and they decided to write a book together. They started to pay attention to what other police wives were talking and asking about on the social media sites. The also spent a lot of time communicating with other wives and husbands to find out what they really wanted to know.

The book touches on many very important topics including:

• How to stay happy in a police relationship
• Police divorce rates
• Loneliness
• “Me time”
• Shiftwork and Holidays
• The Importance of talking after a difficult day
• Sharing information and details about the academy and department
• Alcohol, Suicide, Domestic Violence and PTSD

The book also gives lots of resources and even some great recipes.

Carolyn also told me that all author’s profit will be donated to a police related charity.  Carolyn said that they have made their first donation from their $500 profit to the National organization of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.).

CLICK HERE to order the book from Amazon.com

In our interview we mentioned the importance of putting the phone number for the Safe Call Now crisis hotline for first responders into your phone or contact list.

Safe Call Now provides public safety employees, all emergency services personnel and their family members nationwide with a simple and confidential way to ask for help. Staffed by officers, former law enforcement officers and public safety professionals, Safe Call Now is a safe place to turn to get help from individuals who understand the demands of a law enforcement career. These trained call-takers will provide assistance and referrals for any public safety personnel and their families who are experiencing an emotional crisis or desire a need for someone to listen. Legislation was passed in 2009 which maintains confidentiality for public safety professionals nationwide when they call Safe Call Now for help. Safe Call Now is also a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is not funded at the state or federal levels.

We also suggested having information about Safe Call Now available to your agency.

The phone number for Safe Call Now is: 1-206-459-3020

You can find out more about Safe Call Now on their website at: www.SafeCallNow.org

CLICK HERE to download a brochure about Safe Call Now which would be suitable to pass along or post on an agency bulletin board.

In the interview we talked about the importance of positive mental health for police officers and their families and we mentioned Police Psychologist Jack Digliani’s “Make It Safe Initiative” and “Annual Check-In” concept. To learn more about both of those please visit Jack’s website at: www.JackDigliani.com

CLICK HERE if you would like to download a flyer about the “Make It Safe Initiative”

CLICK HERE if you would like to download a copy of Jack’s Implementation Guide for the “Make It Safe Initiative”

CLICK HERE if you would like to download a poster about the “Annual Check-In” concept.

You can find out more about the book and stay in touch with the authors at their Facebook page at:
www.Facebook.com/TheCrazyLivesOfPoliceWives

Carolyn Whiting’s co-author for the book is Carolyn LaRoche who met her husband Eric when she was a graduate student studying Forensic Science. She is now a mother of two boys, a high school science teacher and writer of romantic mysteries. She enjoys a good baseball game (preferably when one her boys are playing!), barbecues with friends, the beach and outdoor Jimmy Buffett concerts in the summer time. Eric has been involved in law enforcement for over twenty years, the last nine in his current department. They have been married for fourteen years. Carolyn has written two other books, Double Jeopardy and Four Lucy Fight Club, both available in ebook and paperback at amazon.com She has recently completed a third book and is looking forward to working with her new publisher.

I asked Carolyn what might be their next project and she said that they received so many interesting comments and great feedback from the children of law enforcement families that they might compile a book on those insights.

If you would like to listen to our 53 minute interview please click the replay button below or RIGHT CLICK HERE (that’s CONTROL CLICK if you use a Mac) to download (SAVE LINK AS…) a copy of the 13 MB mp3 file.

CLICK HERE to buy the book from Amazon.com

CopsAlive is written to prompt discussions within our profession about the issues of law enforcement career survival. We invite you to share your opinions, ask questions and suggest topics for us in the Comment Box that is at the bottom of this article.

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Our “Armor Your Self™: How to Survive a Career in Law Enforcement” on-site training program is an eight hour, hands-on, “How to” seminar that helps police officers and other law enforcement professionals armor themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to survive their careers in police work. To learn more CLICK HERE

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CLICK HERE if you would like to contact us to learn more about training for your organization.

I’m John Marx, Founder of The Law Enforcement Survival Institute and the Editor of CopsAlive.com. Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

CopsAlive.com was founded to provide information and strategies to help police officers successfully survive their careers. We help law enforcement officers and their agencies prepare for the risks that threaten their existence. Thank you for reading!