Police officers lieEver wonder how often police officers lie? The answer, according to retired Winnipeg police constable Bruce Day, is - a lot more often than you might think. Day is releasing his new autobiographical novel Hey Cop, and it's not all fond remembrances and compliments. Consider this following passage from the book, which officially launches Friday night in Winnipeg: "Actually, the lies go far deeper than even I realized. As I interview police officers, I find out that literally everything internal is built upon a system of intricate lies."
"Lies about overtime, lies about work schedules, lies about people in custody (does anybody check an accused in a holding room every 15 minutes?) As you rise in rank, the premise is this: the less you know and the less you do the better everything gets for you. It's absolutely crazy. If you get into trouble for anything, lie your face off unless someone's got you on video, and even that is subject to lying."

Day quickly admits that the 250-page book may not make him the most popular person at the policeman's ball, but he said he's made his peace with that. "I'm gonna get some flak, but that's OK," Day said cheerfully. "I'm putting myself out a bit, but if you don't do that, what's the point?" he said. "It's balanced, in my opinion."

He said he's proud of the final product, written over the last two years on weekends when Day would sequester himself away in a cabin on the Lee River near Lac du Bonnet, about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. He used his 54 police notebooks and 20 daily diaries to put it all together. "It was a labour of extreme stress to put it down in a way that's not overly critical, but fair about the way things work on the job," he said.

The book is endorsed by two Winnipeg officers and an RCMP sergeant. The book is Day's second, following the 1995 release of Stop Police Humour, a chronicle of the weird encounters a patrolman has while working the beat in Winnipeg. He's releasing a second book of humour - Laughing at the Law - simultaneously with Hey Cop.

Day said while he's sure the book will be controversial for its different take on the force and the people who comprise it (like the officer who uses the police computer as a way to meet pretty women), it's 75 per cent positive. None of the officers involved in questionable antics is named.

- Article from Ottawa Citizen/Winnipeg Free Press, Thursday November 6th 2008