He wrote 'The Onion Field,' 'The New Centurions' and 'The Blue Knight' and created the realistic anthology series 'Police ...

Mr. Wambaugh’s best-selling books included the Los Angeles police novels “The New Centurions” and the true crime drama “The ...

Former Los Angeles police officer turned best- selling author Joseph Wambaugh, known for books such as "The Onion Field" and ...

In novels like “The Glitter Dome” and nonfiction works like “The Onion Field,” he took a harsh, unglamorous look at the ...

A former Los Angeles police officer who wrote "The Onion Fields," Joseph Wambaugh tried to "put people in the cops' skin" in ...

In 1971, eleven years after joining the LAPD, Wambaugh saw his first novel, The New Centurions, published by Little, Brown ...

(Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego) Former Los Angeles police officer turned best- selling author Joseph Wambaugh, known for books such as “The Onion Field” and “The New Centurions ...

The prolific author, who initially planned to be an English teacher, had been with the Los Angeles Police Department 11 years ...

Joseph Wambaugh, the former LAPD officer who brought realism to the "Police Story" TV series and books like "The Onion Field, ...

Before the release of Joseph Wambaugh’s first novel, “The New Centurions,” he received an unusual offer from the star of the straitlaced TV police drama “Dragnet” to look over the pages.

Unlike those on 'Dragnet' and other cop shows, Wambaugh's fictional officers were often compromised and deeply flawed ...