The Man Who Invented the Modern Cop Novel

In 1971, at the age of 34, Joseph Wambaugh, published his first novel, The New Centurions, while he was still an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. The story followed the fortunes (and misfortunes) of three LAPD rookie cops, all of whom joined the force together in 1960, the same year that Wambaugh did. The book was published in January, and by February 7th, it was the 10th bestselling work of fiction in the country. By March 28th, it had jumped to the third spot, surpassing Erich Segal’s Love Story, which had dominated the list for 57 consecutive weeks. Not until October 3rd—eight months after it first appeared on the list—did Wambaugh’s novel finally fall out of the top 10.