Honolulu Cop

Rating:
Summary: Honolulu Cop Is A Great Read
Review: As a former and now retired Honolulu Police Officer I really related to this book my Major Dias.
I worked for him when on solo bike and his opions on solo bikes was right on.
If you want to know what being a cop is really like from beginning to end then this is book. It is SPOT on. It is a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read
Review: As a former Honolulu cop I enjoyed this book because I knew the characters and the scenes. I even got an autographed copy. It flows easily and can be read in one night. Brings back lots of memories if you were one of Honolulu's Finest during that period. I was hoping it would depict some of the sensational homicides but maybe in a follow-up sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read
Review: As a former Honolulu cop I enjoyed this book because I knew the characters and the scenes. I even got an autographed copy. It flows easily and can be read in one night. Brings back lots of memories if you were one of Honolulu's Finest during that period. I was hoping it would depict some of the sensational homicides but maybe in a follow-up sequel.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Hawaii 5-0
Review: Having served as a Honolulu Cop from 1975-1979, reading Gary Dias's book brought back many vivid memories of my HPD days. The author's ability to provide a glimpse into the everyday activities of a big city police department without reverting to violence for violence sake and sensationalism is remarkable. Readers without any prior police experience will enjoy this books ability to open up doors to the inner workings of a modern police department and get a real sense for the lifestyle of a Honolulu Police Officer as the author takes us through the hiring process and a myriad of assignments during his career. This is an excellent and informative read for the thousands of police, ex-police, cop buffs and average citizens and for the many tourists of past who observed the Honolulu Police Officer while vacationing in Waikiki and could only relate it to their perceptions formed while watching Hawaii 5-0.

Rating:
Summary: A candid assessment of the law's strengths and weaknesses
Review: Honolulu Cop: Reflections On A Career With HPD is an inside memoir of author Gary Dias' dutiful service to the Honolulu Police Department from 1971 to 1998. An inherently fascinating and candid assessment of the law's strengths and weaknesses, and the characters found among the good and the bad, Honolulu Cop is provides the reader with a refreshingly open, no-holds-barred account, highly recommended account which is absorbing reading and offers a "real world" glimpse of how policing and careers in law enforcement have evolved since the 1970's.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and informative
Review: I really enjoyed Dias' book. There are so many cop TV shows and books, and I thought his was uncommonly sensible and not sensational. His compassion and insight were apparent. And it's funny too!

Rating:
Summary: A compassionate professional
Review: This is an excellent book written by a consumate professional. It is at times touching (as when Dias recalls his disgust at the actions of some homicide investigators at a crime scene), humorous (when he speaks about mixing gasoline and water, or the fine chapter on my friend Norman) and shocking (his description of a hair raising pursuit thru two districts on this island...good thing they didn't have today's policy on pursuits in those days).
This well written book moves quickly, but covers many years and changes in Dias' and the Department's lives. His duties in various divisions in the Department gives him an excellent overview of the scientific and proceedural changes that occured during his career at HPD.
It is easy to see his love for the Department, but he does not ignore some of the ugliness that occured (namely, the despicable conduct of some administrators at the homicide scene of Ofrc Troy Barboza, and the resulting "missing" fingerprint cards of said administrators).
I would recommend this book to anyone in the law enforcement community, as HPD does some things differently from other Departments, and to anyone who would like a good enjoyable read.
If there is one bad thing about this book, it's the fact that it was too short.
It was a very sad day for the Department when Major Dias retired, But a very lucky one for the Queen's Medical Center.