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The Cop Who Fell to Earth

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
Before eighteen-year-old Craig Semple joined the New South Wales Police Force in 1988, he was someone who preferred to steer clear of trouble. But like so many young police officers, he gradually built resilience to fear through a process of selflessly, and often recklessly, turning towards danger. By the time he started locking horns with some of Australia's most notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs, Craig believed himself to be bulletproof.
After his brother, a rookie police officer, was near-fatally stabbed by a drug dealer in 1998, Craig's life suddenly jumped the track, his fight against drug crime becoming an obsession that took him to the brink of personal, professional and marital destruction. Attempting to give his family and career a new start, he moved to the New South Wales north coast, where he too became the victim of a violent crime, at the hands of outlaw bikies.
Trained and shaped in an era of alcohol abuse and maverick culture within the force, Craig saw just about everything in a career spanning a quarter of a century: murder, suicide, armed robbery, organised crime and much more. This unforgiving environment would eventually take its toll. After many years struggling with his deteriorating mental health, Craig retired with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Ahead of him was a challenging journey that would take him to the lowest point of his life and provide him with an opportunity to find a new purpose inspiring others as a mental health educator.
Craig Semple's story is one of transformation and profound personal growth through exposure to extreme life events. As compelling as a thriller, it is a story of how human endurance, tenacity, sacrifice and belief in something beyond the self ultimately lead to the triumph of good over evil.
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    • Books+Publishing

      June 20, 2023
      The title of Craig Semple’s memoir, The Cop Who Fell to Earth, suggests flight and ambition, but it could also be reframed as an earthbound slog through a dark maze to understanding. As a 19-year-old graduate in 1988, Semple had little idea of the toll his decades in the police force would take. He describes the unshakeable bonds with colleagues, cemented by shared exposure to violence and depravity, but also repressive attitudes about mental health. Semple was an angry man for almost the entirety of his time in the force, whether it was at the failings of a workplace culture ensnarled in red tape and underfunding or due to the constant exposure to the worst of human behaviour. A key moment comes when the detective sits opposite the criminal counterpart he put in prison after an 18-month-long investigation, and the hardened bikie tells him how old he looks. ‘This job of yours is killing you. Too much stress. You honestly look like shit.’ He is the first person to notice and point it out. There are fascinating accounts of big cases to satisfy readers wanting to know how an investigation works, but the heart of the book is Semple’s struggle to overcome his profound shame and grief about the psychological injury which ended his career. If it sometimes reads like a gruelling brief of evidence, this only speaks to its narrative authenticity. If you like police procedurals, true crime in the vein of the Underbelly series, and rural noir by the likes of Chris Hammer and Jane Harper, you’ll enjoy the real-life version too!

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  • English

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