After retirement from a long career in law enforcement, Greene County resident Robert Hurley decided to write a book. Hurley had kept a journal of his experiences in law enforcement across 36 years, starting with his service in the Air Force as security police in Japan 1969-1973, through years in the police department in La Vista, NE, 1973-1979, then graduation from the Iowa State Patrol Academy in 1979 and service as a State Trooper until 2005. His journal became the basis for a book just published Sept. 3, 10-31Crime in Progress.
“The Code 10-31 is from the Iowa Police 10 Codes, law enforcement radio signals used to communicate in the line of duty,” Hurley said. “The code for a crime in progress is 10-31. The code for a message received is 10-4. At the back of the book, there’s an appendix listing all the codes from 10-0 to 10-99.”
“I picked out 128 incidents from my journal and put them into true short stories, more like essays,” Hurley said. “There’s a wide variety of incidents, not all of them crimes.”
Hurley served on the Iowa State Patrol at Davenport and at Denison. Many stories from the Denison section of the book take place in Greene and Carroll Counties in highly recognizable spots. The people involved, however, have been given fictitious names, except for well-known people of the county doing positive things.
Hurley encountered people from all walks of life and all manner of circumstances over his long career.
“We always tried to help and protect,” he said. “Sometimes people didn’t want help or didn’t realize they needed it, and sometimes people were determined to do whatever they wanted to do whether it affected someone else or not. That’s when things can get serious in a hurry.”
Hurley worked on RAGBRAI detail several years and includes some anecdotes, one involving First Lady of Iowa Christie Vilsack, who rode one day. Another anecdote is about the bridges of Madison County.
Hurley also worked with the D.A.R.E. program in several schools 1991-1996 and recounts some humorous experiences working with kids. “Working in schools is an education,” he said.
There are sad stories in the book, too, and times when being in law enforcement seemed very difficult for Hurley and his family.
“There were some incidents of threats to my wife and family,” Hurley said. “We had to plan how to deal with certain things and help our children to cope sometimes.”
Kristie Hurley, now retired from nursing, health education, and patient advocacy, worked with Bob to turn journal entries into a book that they both hope will be a treasured part of family history for their children and grandchildren. The Hurleys have been married more than 50 years.
“I told him his stories matter and they will matter to many people,” Kristie said.
10-31 Crime in Progress is published by Raspberry Ridge Publishing, Jefferson, Iowa and is available on Amazon. Search Amazon: Books: Robert M Hurley
