The Guadalajara International Book Fair is the Americas’ largest book fair. This year, many readers are once again anticipating a new assortment of published works that share stories from the lived experiences of various authors. Kurt Niemann happens to be one of these recent authors. He also happens to have been a probation officer for American juvenile youth. In his book, “Badge 411,” he gives a series of humorous, if not bizarre, vignettes about his encounters on the job.
San Diego, California – “I laughed, I thought wrong about this subject. Now I consider myself informed. The writer makes this subject matter easy for a clueless person to see how the system works. I wish to thank him for the Academy and wish all officers had to attend!”
The Guadalajara International Book Fair, also known as Feria Internacíonal del Libro de Guadalajara (Fil), is an opportunity for many authors from around the world to tell their story to avid readers in the Americas. Naturally, as the largest book fair in the region, these stories include everything between fiction and non-fiction.
However, some authors tell stories that, while real, remain hard to believe even as they wrote them. Such is the case of Kurt Niemann and his book “Badge 411: Based on the Actual Experiences of a Probation Officer.”
Prior to publishing the book, Niemann had once served as a probation officer for juvenile youth for over 30 years. He has a B.A. in Sociology and an M.S. in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University. He was even awarded Detention Officer of the Year at the State of Arizona as well as entrusted with coordinating the state’s first Academy for Juvenile Detention Officers.
To say that he has seen a lot of things in his time with troubled youth is an understatement, as he shows in the vignettes of “Badge 411.” Whether it’s the length that wealthy, influential parents would go to keep their law-breaking teenager out of custody, or the equally troubling consequences of systemic red tape that made life harder even for the more well-behaved kids, he’s seen it all.