A Bookish Conversation with Jamell Crouthers, Author of 'Code Blue'

“Police Chief Bulletin #1

My fellow police officers, thank you for your hard work,

Putting your life in the line of duty every day.

This will be the first of many bulletins that I will be sending,

Your supervising officer will be having meetings about my bulletins.

I want to address an issue that’s been going on in our community,

There have been too many minorities driving in our neighborhoods.

I’ve been told by residents that they’re scared and afraid of them,

I don’t know exactly why as I am not in the streets everyday.

In order to get control of our community again we must pull over cars,

Any car that is expensive and they look out of place, pull them over.

Find a reason to pull these cars over, whether it’s a tail light,

Or they can be driving too slow, too fast, failure to signal when changing lanes.

There are certain cars to look for, especially tinted windows,

Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes Benz, Lamborghinis, you get my drift.

You know the procedure, asking for a driver’s license and registration,

Make sure that you’re assertive in your behavior and taking control of situations.

I want officers to be partnered up in the cars while you’re on duty,

We need to conduct these pullovers between 7pm and 5am daily.

It seems to be that at night these minorities are driving through our neighborhood,

Even if you recognize cars and know who these people are, pull them over.

I can’t have our citizens of our community constantly calling me about this,

So let’s clean this up as soon as possible and I want it tracked how many you do.

I want three done a week amongst partners and body cams will show that,

If you have to agitate a driver to escalate a situation, do it.

Cars swerving means they must be drunk or high so sniff out the car,

Find a purpose and reason to search the car without a warrant.

I appreciate your time in reading this bulletin,

If you have any questions or concerns, please consult your supervising officer.

Police Chief”

--From Code Blue by Jamell Crouthers

Jamell Crouthers is a poet, author, blogger and podcaster who has taken on a journey of writing in the prime of his life. He has been writing poetry since the age of 13 but never thought he could utilize his talent to tell stories and write books. He is not the traditional author as he writes his books in poetry format with a focus on storylines and societal issues.

After publishing 11 books (so far), his goals and plans are to continue writing books on taboo subjects that aren't discussed enough in today's world and bringing those main subjects to the forefront. Jamell's blogs tackle societal issues, how he writes his books, his journey as an author and some motivational blogs that will get you to focus on your goals. His goal and moniker is, "to change the world, one book at a time."

Book Description:

The Code Blue: An Oath to the Badge and Gun series chronicles a police officer named Gary who has been on the force for a few years. He soon is entrenched in a lot of lies, corruption, racism and agendas being pushed by his superiors. The question throughout this series is whether he as a good

cop becomes part of the corruption or does he report it?

Part of this series features his son Gary, Jr who is a young teenager wanting to be like his father and go into the police force. He soon learns through the news daily that the police force is not what it really is. Gary ends up having to share the truths of what goes on at work and the relationship between him and his son changes because of it. Now it becomes up to Gary what he is going to do about what goes on at work.

Interview:

Welcome, Jamell!  Your series, Code Blue, sounds thrilling! Can you tell us why you wrote it?

Jamell: I wrote the Code Blue series because of all that's been going on in America with police brutality, racism and corruption on the police force. I felt that I needed to write something but it had to be different than the average police book you would read. With all of the news coverage, I wanted to ask the all-important question, do good cops know who the bad ones are. 

Your protagonist, Gary, is put in a sticky situation. Does he become part of the corruption or does he report it? What a situation to be in. Can you tell us more about Gary?

Jamell: I don't want to give away too much but if it's a series, you can say he condones the corruption and is involved in it to where he covers up for his partners and lies to his family about what's going on. Let's just say it takes him time to report all of it and his guilty conscience and sanity become a major component to his life. Gary is a compassionate person who wants nothing more than to make the neighborhood he grew up in and his city a better, safer place to live. He's definitely a family man who has a young son and a wife that he loves dearly and has great parents who raised him to do right by others. The only problem is he's involved in a lot of things he never thought he would be and it ends up costing him the most important people in his life, his family and friends. 

Can you tell us a little about the other main characters?

Jamell: The other main character in this series is Gary, Jr. He is a young teenager who is growing into his own and starting to see the world for what it really is. He's no longer living in this shell that his father tried to put him in (moving to the suburbs, putting him in a better school, living in a nice home). The series takes a different dynamic where Gary and Gary, Jr talk to each other through letters and it gets to a place where their relationship becomes tumultuous and it's due to Gary not being honest with what goes on in the streets every night he goes to work.

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

Jamell: In Code Blue Part 1, I will say the pivotal moment is when Gary's partners shoot and kill a man who wasn't the suspect in a store robbery. They botched the ID because the suspect was wearing a hoodie and so was the man that they killed. Gary's ride to the police station that night was very long and the question is, will he write up another falsified report of what happened or will he tell the truth.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

Jamell: I definitely will say yes my writing has improved and it's because I'm constantly challenging myself to write story lines that have relevance to what's currently going on in the world. With me working on various series, and a plethora of characters, there's always the challenge of how can I keep a reader engaged in these characters? How can I make the reader feel, emote and understand these characters and where they are coming from. It's all about putting the reader in these character's shoes to make them say, "Hey this character is me, or I know someone who has gone through this."

Do you proofread and edit your work on your own or pay someone to do it for you?

Jamell: I edit and proofread my work and it's a tedious and arduous process but eventually, it gets done.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Jamell: Yes it does in some ways, which is why some of my books I've paid someone to make them for me and some I've been fortunate to make on my own. One of my series I've changed the book cover 3 times to make it more appealing. 

What did you want to become when you were a kid?

Jamell: I wanted to be a lawyer at first, I was into police shows like New York Undercover, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and SVU (I've literally grown up watching Mariska Hargitay) and then I wanted to be a sports broadcaster (I have old YouTube videos of me talking about the NBA). 

Do your novels carry a message?

Jamell: My novels definitely do, each book carries a message and I want readers to take the time to think about the world, discuss it with others and try to make the world a better place to live in.  A lot of us are fortunate to live comfortable lives but there are others who need us to be there for them or to understand them and who they are. We spend too much time being judgmental of others and not being compassionate enough.

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

Jamell: There are a lot of books coming in the near future, I do podcasts where I discuss societal issues and in my spare time I'm always listening to music. I love my sports (basketball, football and baseball) and I'm big on family and keeping my close knit friends around me. My quote with my writing journey is, "Trying to change the world, one book at a time."