by Eric Moutsos

FORWARD & INTRODUCTIONS

“Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.”

Albert Einstein

This is based on a true story and the retelling of actual events are not verbatim in some of the conversations you will read. The names of locations and people have been changed to protect the innocent . . . and the guilty.

Warning: Reader discretion is advised in a few chapters that address suicide, pornography addiction, drug and alcohol abuse, and other violent police scenes that may not be recommended for children or sensitive readers.

For the American Cop and the Communities that We Serve

FOREWORD

This story matters.

We are at a time when public scrutiny of law enforcement has never been higher. We are at a time when any given police action is apt to be digitized, shared, dissected, and devoured endlessly on the internet. No one knows this better than former Salt Lake City Police Officer Eric Moutsos. In 2014, his story sprang to the front pages of local media. It spread to national news. It reached international media, too.

I met Eric shortly after his superiors placed him on administrative leave, seizing his badge for the purported sin of discrimination. The Salt Lake City Police Department leaked a misleading narrative to the media, breaking their own policies in the process. Their purpose seems to have been twofold: to simultaneously cover up a sexual harassment scandal within the office, and to embarrass and crush then Officer Eric Moutsos, thereby making him an example to other officers: sit down and shut up; obey without hesitation; conform and disregard conscience.

Many wanted him to sit still, to remain silent, and the Eric Moutsos I first encountered was happy to oblige. He was frozen by fear and uncertainty. But then came the thaw and, with it, the courage to speak the truth. His story is an opportunity to show our community and this Nation (if not the global media who covered him) what it really means to be a cop in America today, while exposing some very real problems in law enforcement.

This story magnifies the reality that “problem policing” is more a byproduct of the machine of law enforcement than it is of any one officer, good or bad. By focusing on one breaking news story at a time, on one officer at a time, we lose sight of the devices that create and foster the type of policing that offends and divides. More importantly, by blaming and devouring the officers offered up by the machine, we forget that it is the machine that needs repair. We cannot make positive changes to law enforcement in the dark. We cannot make improvements if we talk about the wrong issues. This memoir will help you, the reader, understand the real wedge being driven between law enforcement and the community.

Only by investigating the true underlying mechanisms in the machine of law enforcement will we be able to break the faulty system and forge something better in its place.

I am grateful for this story, and that my friend has the heart to tell it to you. I hope it helps you view his story and other stories about law enforcement in a new light.

It has been my absolute privilege to know Eric, and it is without hesitation that I recommend his memoir, regardless of your take on cops, city politics, modern controversies of religious and individual rights, the US Constitution, or our Republic form of government. Read this memoir; tell somebody else to read it. My hope is that it starts a real discussion. I hope that conversation will remind us of our conscience and create change.

Stay Safe,

Bret W. Rawson
General Counsel, Utah State Lodge
Fraternal Order of Police

Eric Moutsos wades into the modern American police departments and provides an independent, unflinching, insider’s account of the pressures the front-line police officer faces while serving their communities. Ticket quotas, long a jealously guarded secret of chiefs, mayors, and city judges, are put in the spotlight, and the powers-that-be are exposed for their unethical practices- for which the men and women on the street pay the price. The story of the American cop matters- and readers wanting to understand what life on the street is really like for the heroes of American law enforcement will come away from Eric’s story understanding why.

Ian Adams -Executive Director – Utah Fraternal Order of Police

“Moutsos is not just a good cop and good man, he’s a good storyteller. Every American who cares about freedom and fairness should read this book. Government officials abused their power, broke the law and a compliant media lets them get away with it.”

Maggie Gallagher

“This book is the tip of the iceberg of what is to come.”

Mike Hardin (Retired 20 year veteran Salt Lake City Police) 

“Full of unexpected twists and turns, and the boyish excitement with which you tell it keeps me turning the pages in anticipation of the next big adventure.  What I love most is the thread of faith and family that runs through it all.”

Natalie Robison

“Eric’s story is heart wrenching and eye opening. It is terrifying that this quotaism, as Eric calls it, is such a rampant problem. I commend him for having the courage to share his story. Something needs to change.”

-Nichelle Aiden 

“This is the single greatest time in history to be in Law Enforcement… it is so, because it is the hardest time to be in Law Enforcement.  And when you understand that those two concepts are not mutually exclusive, then you know you must do what’s is right. Forging forward and setting the example of being a good cop making a hard decision, Eric Moutsos walks that un-blurred line of distinction and makes the evident passion of righteous law Enforcement come to life for his readers. Knowing that integrity is everything and can only be lost but once, I urge you to read Eric’s work and understand the true meaning of being a good cop in the worst time. Integrity intact and an ambassador for our future of peace officers, Eric Moutsos’ character will last, long after the sands of time fades the words from these pages.”

Dominick Izzo – Law Enforcement Professional