Greycliff's Chronicles: Guest Blogger Pete Klismet, Jr.

Welcome to retired FBI law enforcement officer Pete Klismet. Pete is a fellow member of the Public Safety Writers Association. Pete is guest blogging about his career in law enforcement and his writing. I hope you enjoy the interview and please check out Pete's books!

Welcome to my blog, Pete. Please read on to see the interview questions.

Let’s start with the obvious ones first…

Was there something in particular which sparked your interest in law enforcement:

I’m not someone who can say ‘I always wanted to be a police officer.’ I do, however, remember watching ‘The Untouchables,’ a very popular TV show back in the 60’s. From that I did start thinking someday I’d like to be an FBI agent. Which was somewhat counter intuitive because Elliott Ness, the star of the show, was actually an ATF agent. I was like everyone, even today – you hear 3 letters and assume they’re all the FBI or some branch of it. And then came “The FBI,” with Effren Zimbalist Jr. It was on Sunday nights while I was going to college, and it became something like a holy day of obligation (I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic schools!) to watch it on Sunday in prime time. Very popular show. I got hooked on the amazing things the agents accomplished, never realizing it was a lot of propaganda by then-director J. Edgar Hoover.

Even with all of that, I didn’t really set out and chart a path to be in law enforcement. In fact, the way it happened was more by pure luck or fate. I was registering late for college and going around a large room with professors and posters of what their program was. One was “Police Science.” Since there weren’t a lot of other classes available, I asked the professor to sign me up and I’d register for PS 101. When classes started, it didn’t take me long to figure out what I found most interesting. And thus…………..
Tell me about your law enforcement career.

…..I started thinking, “this is very interesting and might be a good choice for me.” So I finished up all of my classes and received my Bachelor’s Degree. The Ventura Police Department in California was recruiting and I saw a flyer pinned to a cork board in a classroom. I noticed they were the only department in the U.S.A. (possibly the world) at that time which required new officers to have a minimum of a B.A. I knew I could get on with the Denver P.D. or failing in that, one of the other larger departments in what was then a booming Colorado. But they only required a GED or high school diploma. I had been in the service (Navy…submarines) and stationed out of San Diego, and really liked California. So I opted to test with Ventura P.D. That worked out well and I was offered a position in June of 1970.

I stayed with the P.D. for a little over 9 years and made Sgt. In 2 ½ years, the earliest anyone ever had. I worked a variety of assignments: detectives, administration, vice and narcotics, etc. While there I started working on my first Master’s Degree. Other officers noticed that and started enrolling as well. Once I finished that, within a couple of years I started on a second Masters at the Univ. of Southern California. While attending classes at USC, I met a number of FBI agents from the L.A. office who were doing the same thing. Several of them encouraged me to apply to the Bureau, and so I did. The selection process wasn’t a breeze, but when the overall results came back, I was #4 out of about 3600 applicants on the list. That made me think I had better get busy and make a decision, because the FBI wanted me. And I wanted it as it turned out.

After the academy (the subject of my 2^nd book), I was assigned to L.A., exactly where I didn’t want to go. “The needs of the bureau” prevailed. After spending almost two years there, I accepted an undercover assignment in, of all places, Iowa. I liked my job in L.A. (Organized Crime), but gangs had started to form, my commute was horrible both ways, and I was becoming a Saturday alcoholic to cope with the rest of the week.

Eventually I wound up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and while it was a bit of culture shock, it turned out to be the best 11 years I ever spent in law enforcement. I was selected out of the entire Omaha Division to attend the first class ever in what was then called “Psychological Profiling.” My first book, “FBI Diary: Profiles of Evil,” recounts our training and some of the cases I worked after I was trained. It was not my full-time job, and wasn’t anything like the TV show “Criminal Minds.” Every time I give a talk, I can count on someone asking me that exact question.

Finally I asked for a transfer into Omaha where I spent about 5 years working gangs and drugs. After 17 years in the bureau I was able to get my ‘Office of Preference,’ and wound up in Grand Junction, CO. That wasn’t where I wanted to end my career, but I did and retired on the last day of the millennium – 12-31-99.
What did you do after you retired?

Once again, fate or luck intervened. In 2000, I heard about a job at a Community College in North/West Colorado. I went through the hiring process and finished 1^st on the list. After final interviews, I was offered a job teaching full-time, partly Criminal Justice classes and partly in the Law Enforcement Academy. I was in a small town and there really wasn’t a lot to do, unless you liked chasing rabbits, antelope and coyotes around in dusty ground and sage brush. That wasn’t for me, and then fate intervened once again.

Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado was testing for a full-time Associate Professor and Department Chair of the Criminal Justice program. Why not? It would get me on the side of the state where I wanted to be, was close to Denver, and it was the size of city I like – about 500,000. Again, after all was said and done, they offered the position to me. I took it. In 2013, I decided to retire from that job and put in my paperwork. So I wound up being one of those ‘double dipping’ retirees.

However, there is something about the concept of ‘retiring’ I don’t quite get. I started a consulting business (www.criminalprofilingassociates.com). We’ve done a number of classes for law enforcement officers in “Violent Sexual Offenders,” and I’ve also been asked to assist on some investigations. Once again, my profiling background has proven to be valuable.

In the three years since I retired, I’ve written three books, all of which have been accepted by traditional publishers. Having recently changed publishers and re-worked my books a bit, “FBI Quantico: What really happened at the FBI Academy” by Special Agent X will be coming out in Mar. 2016. It was published under a different name, “FBI Animal House,” a few years back. The two other books I currently have published are:

“FBI Diary: Profiles of Evil,” and “FBI Diary: Home Grown Terror.”
With all of that, do you get to have any fun!

Oh yeah. My wife and I like to travel and have taken about 20 cruises in the ten years we’ve been married. We just got back from a cruise to Spain and Italy, but we’ve been to Australia and New Zealand, England a couple of times, Ireland, South America and the Mediterranean. If you like travel, there is nothing quite like cruising.
Back to the job, is there any case that stands out in your mind and why?

That’s really a tough question. After 30 years in law enforcement and about 10 years of that being a profiler, there are many more than one. In “FBI Diary: Profiles of Evil,” I recount several. In fact, the last 5 or 6 chapters are devoted to a case still known as ‘the greatest miscarriage of justice’ in the history of the U.S.A. Six people were wrongly convicted and served over 70 years in the Nebraska state penitentiary for a crime they didn’t commit, and couldn’t have. If they had paid attention to my profile, they would have identified a single suspect, when there could not have been more than one. Another case in that same book recalls a serial killer of 12-13 year old boys in the Omaha area, how another agent and I profiled the case, and how senior law enforcement officers (including the FBI) went by stereotypes and basically discounted the correct profile we did. Ultimately, it turned out that we were absolutely right.

Another interesting story is the topic of “FBI Diary: Home Grown Terror.” A police officer is assassinated by three young anti-government survivalists. In the chase through a small town in S/W Colorado, they fire over 500 rounds, injuring other officers and disabling 7 police cars. The chase winds up in the desert west of the town, and it is nine years before the case is finally resolved.
What started you in writing?

Probably genetics and realizing I had a whole lot of stories tucked in my head after 30 very-interesting years in law enforcement. I say genetics because both my mom and dad were great writers – but no books. Back in those days, mail was the main way to communicate. Mom in particular, would sit down in the family room and write these long letters to one of her sisters in Superior, Wisconsin. And others to my aunts and other family. I really think we have a genetic disposition to be good writers or not.
Who was your inspiration for writing?

Well, of course it was partly my mom. I know I got a lot of praise in school for my writing, so that didn’t hurt either. I think I inspired myself, in large part because I enjoyed writing so much. Anyone who has put a story together, whether a book or something else, understands what I mean when I say the ‘creative process’ which flows out of our brain is a feeling unlike anything else. I can remember many times when I sat down, had a meeting with myself, and said “ok, this chapter is going to go this way.” Rarely did that happen.

With respect to my genre, I think my biggest inspiration was Joseph Wambaugh. One of his first books was “The Onion Field.” I’ve read it twice. He was one of the first former cops who began writing some of the true stories of things which happened to him in his career with LAPD. And the other thing I like about him is how he blends humor into some grave situations just to break the spell and tension. He’s written a lot of books and lives in Palm Springs, so I suspect that means he’s done well.
As an author, what would you like to be remembered for most?

I’ve actually thought about this. I want to write books which are timeless. By that I mean someone can pick one up 20 years from now and enjoy them as much as they do now. I think I’ve accomplished that with my first three books, at least judging from the Amazon reviews I’ve received.
I know it will be difficult, but what is your favorite book and why?

Once again, I’ve thought about this. It would probably be a close tie between “Centennial” by James Michener, and “Pillars of the Earth,” by someone else! I think Centennial would win by a nose, because it tells a lot about the ancient and more recent history of my home state – Colorado.
Do you have favorite authors?

Michener would be one. I’ve read virtually everything he’s written. Joseph Wambaugh has to be on the list, near the top. I’m a huge fan of Nelson DeMille and Andrew Gross, the latter of whom I know personally. And of course ME!!! Not really.

Pete’s had an interesting life and career. Here is a part of the biographical info he uses:

Pete Klismet served his country with two tours in Vietnam on submarines. Following military service, he earned a college degree, then worked for the Ventura Police Department in Southern California. While there, he attended graduate school, earning two master’s degrees. He was offered and accepted an appointment as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In a twenty-year career with the FBI, the author was highly-decorated, served with distinction in three field offices, and received numerous awards and recognition from the FBI. Pete was selected to be one of the original ‘profilers’ for the FBI, perhaps the FBI’s most famed unit. Before his retirement, he was named the National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.

Following his retirement, he accepted a position as an Associate Professor and Department Chair of a college Criminal Justice program. Having now retired from that, Pete and his wife Nancy live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

And, of course, Pete currently has three books published. All are non-fiction, and none are self-published. Here are the covers: