REZ COP
One Man's Journey Through Indian Country Law Enforcement
Get an exclusive preview of REZ COP before publication.
Before body cameras.
Before social media.
Before most Americans knew anything about tribal law enforcement.
Rez Cop is a gritty, funny, emotionally direct memoir about a white Midwestern police officer who found his purpose, his closest friendships, and a new understanding of himself while serving in Indian Country law enforcement in Arizona during the 1980s and 1990s.
This is not a book about how bad life can be on a Native American reservation. It is not a grim exposé or a story built around stereotypes. Instead, Rez Cop is a positive true story about two very different cultures, two very different men, and the unlikely brotherhood that can form in a high-stress job when people are willing to listen, show up, and risk trusting one another.
Dwyer's voice is blunt, self-deprecating, profane, and often very funny — a man telling stories from the front seat of a patrol truck after midnight. High-stakes police calls, desert humor, cultural tension, hard lessons, and moments of surprising tenderness.
The Book's Core Promise
Rez Cop offers readers a rare inside look at Indian Country law enforcement through the eyes of a white officer who entered tribal policing as an outsider — and was changed by the experience.
A firsthand law-enforcement memoir set in Arizona's desert, borderlands, county roads, and Native communities.
A vivid account of tribal and county policing during the 1980s and 1990s.
A positive cross-cultural friendship story between a white officer and Native tribal officers.
A candid look at racism, jurisdictional tension, officer loyalty, and the complicated line between formal law and "how things are done" in remote places.
A fast-paced, episodic narrative filled with arrests, pursuits, fights, rescues, desert mishaps, humor, and danger.
A deeper emotional arc about anger, maturity, belonging, and the search for purpose.
"At its heart, this is a book about a man who went west looking for a badge — and found a family."
Follow the Journey to Publication
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