Seaford Resident Writes Affordable Textbook for Students

Seaford resident Joseph Giacalone is a Detective Supervisor by day and a professor at John Jay College by night. In the midst of it all, he recently wrote a textbook entitled, "The Criminal Investigative Function: A Guide for New Investigators."

The new textbook incorporates Giacalone's firsthand experience as well as a step-by-step guide on how to solve a crime.  Giacalone, who has 19 years of law enforcement background under his belt, decided to create an inexpensive textbook for college students.

"Textbooks these days can cost over $100. I cut out all the fat that most books have and this textbook is only $26," said Giacalone. "I brought this idea to Looseleaf Law Publications and they loved it. They said they were getting a lot of complaints on the cost of textbooks and they thought this was a great idea."  

The textbook is designed to show students in the Criminal Justice field the process one must go through in order to crack a case. The Seaford resident spent six months writing about different tactics that work, how to catch the bad guys, his personal experiences and researching various law cases.

"It starts with the incident, then goes on to the investigation and then the follow-up," he said. "It's all in preparation for when they need to go to court."   

John Jay College will be the first to use the textbooks which will be available in stores January 2011. Giacalone will also be promoting the book at local institutions like Nassau Community College, Farmingdale State College and Briarcliffe College.

"I basically created all the lessons and PowerPoint's for them and all they need to do is read the book and add their own touches," said Giacalone.

Giacalone started his profession as a police officer and worked his way up the ranks to detective. Throughout his career, Giacalone worked on numerous homicide cold cases including missing persons, murders and suicides. The main motive as to why Giacalone is in this line of work is for the families.

"I do this to satisfy the families," he said. "We are the advocators for the families and they need closure. It's extremely important to them."