Owasso policeman adds 'author' to his job description

Many police officers have no way to express their anger or turmoil at the end of a hard day. <br><br>Owasso Police Sergeant Doug Driver learned to take his frustrations out on his keyboard. Each night

Thursday, July 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Many police officers have no way to express their anger or turmoil at the end of a hard day.

Owasso Police Sergeant Doug Driver learned to take his frustrations out on his keyboard. Each night when he ended his shift, he'd type about the arrests he made, the people he helped, the injustices he witnessed. As News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright explains, those nightly musings are now in the form of a newly published book.

If your image of a police officer is big and burly, deep voiced and mean-looking, then, you'll do a double-take when you meet Sergeant Doug Driver. Heâ€™s not any of that, but, he is a highly decorated officer with a heart for service and now, it seems, a talent for writing. "When I held it in my hand for the first time and sent a copy to my family, it was such an incredible feeling.â€ Driverâ€™s honest reflections of his life as a street cop just got published in a book called "Life Behind the Badge.â€

This is not the Hollywood version, but a chance for citizens to see all the drudgery that never makes the headlines. "How really difficult it is to be a good police officer, the long hours, low pay, stress on the family that's involved in doing this.â€ Driver didn't worry much about political correctness. In fact, in one chapter; he's rather blunt about what he calls "$1,200 suits" who get the bad guys off. "If you seen an admitted guilty person get off because his defense attorney beat the system, that's a frustration I experience and others in law enforcement.â€

Driverâ€™s book also features those terrible moments police face that mark them for life and the many nice things officers do that never get noticed. Driver, who's normally a comic cut-up, says this book took a very serious turn, but he hopes to write another about the lighter moments on the job.

Despite the job's frustrations, Driver says it's worth the sacrifice, to be, as he calls it, one of the good guys. Driverâ€™s book sells for around $20. Heâ€™ll be doing a book signing in early August at Barnes and Noble.