WAUKESHA — Waukesha resident Patrick O’Donnell retired from the Milwaukee Police Department three years ago after a 25-year career. Now in his retirement, O’Donnell has written eight books and has a podcast and Facebook group called Cops and Writers.
O’Donnell started working as a police officer for the MPD in 1995. Prior to that he attended college at UW-Whitewater, where he graduated with a degree in sociology and a minor in criminal justice. O’Donnell is originally from Chicago, and his parents are Irish immigrants.
While attending college, O’Donnell did an internship with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department.
“That really sparked my interest,” he said. “It was a blast. I had a ton of fun.”
After graduating, he moved to Madison and started his job search. At the time, the job market was tough. He worked at a variety of jobs until he was hired by the MPD. He spent his first seven years there as a police officer and was later promoted to sergeant.
O’Donnell worked all over the city, was on different task forces and did regular patrol operations as a sergeant. And in 2020 at 55 years old, he retired.
“I loved the job. It provided a lot for me,” said O’Donnell. “I’ve got no regrets. It had its ups and downs, and believe me, I’ve been through a lot of stuff, but it was time.”
In 2014, MPD lifted residency restrictions for police officers. This allowed O’Donnell to move to Waukesha.
A few years before he retired, O’Donnell found himself contemplating what the next chapter in his life would be. For years, he had helped people buy cars, and ultimately, he decided to write a book about it.
He published the book independently on Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon. The book did OK, according to O’Donnell, but in looking to advance his new-found interest, he started listening to podcasts and attending conferences about self-publishing.
His book-writing journey started while he was still a police officer.
“Whenever there would be some down time, I brought my computer with me everywhere,” said O’Donnell, who recalled a sunny day in the park where he was writing away when he suddenly heard gunfire. He packed up his stuff and two blocks away, a homicide had occurred. “It doesn’t get more realistic than that,” he said.
In hearing encouragement from others to write a book about his police work, O’Donnell started a Facebook group called Cops and Writers to see what interest was out there. Originally starting with himself, his editor and a couple of friends, the group has now expanded to 6,000 members from all over the world. Members, including other writers, ask questions pertaining to equipment, training, legal issues and culture of police to contribute to their own books.
With a positive response, O’Donnell wrote two books, part of the “Cops and Writers” series. The nonfiction books are for writers looking to write thrillers, mysteries or any kind of crime fiction. To promote his books, he started pitching himself to podcasts, and after getting to know people in the podcast community, he started his own just over two years ago called Cops and Writers.
“It’s doing really well. Today I am interviewing a police officer that was policing in the Outback in Australia. I get to talk to all kinds (of people). I’ve talked to spies that were working for the CIA, KGB and FBI agents,” said O’Donnell.
Recently, O’Donnell was asked to cohost for Writers, Ink, a podcast in which he gets to interview some famous people while gaining more exposure for his own platform.
He’s written eight books and is currently working on his ninth, which O’Donnell said will most likely be released toward the end of May.
His new book will be book four of the “Brew City Blues Series,” a crime fiction series set in Milwaukee and loosely based on his own experiences.
“There are detectives in there, there’s police officers, there’s sergeants,” said O’Donnell. “It’s more or less told from the point of view of the street cop.”
O’Donnell will be holding a book signing for his three current books in the “Brew City Blues” fiction series, along with the two nonfiction Cops and Writers books, both of which have hit the “Best Sellers List” on Amazon, according to O’Donnell. The book signing will be at Lake Country Cigars in Delafield on April 21 from 6 to 10 p.m.
“I guess I’ve always had a good work ethic, and being a police officer definitely helped that. You’re kind of married to your work for a while,” said O’Donnell. “My parents were immigrants, and they definitely had that immigrant work ethic. My dad never took time off. I’m not like him, but I try to be. That work ethic has been drilled into my head.”
June writers conference
Coming up in June, O’Donnell will be running a writers conference at the Fox Valley Police Department from June 1 through June 4. Crime writers will have the opportunity to do hands-on activities like firearm simulators, driving a squad car and getting an inside look at K-9 demonstrations. Writing experts and law enforcement officials will also attend.
When asked what advice he has for others looking to get a book, podcast or group of their own started, O’Donnell responded with “just do it.”
“I always tell new authors this: You have to decide what you want out of this and gear your business towards it.”
