Unlike those on 'Dragnet' and other cop shows, Wambaugh's fictional officers were often compromised and deeply flawed characters

He wrote 'The Onion Field,' 'The New Centurions' and 'The Blue Knight' and created the realistic anthology series 'Police Story.'

In novels like “The Glitter Dome” and nonfiction works like “The Onion Field,” he took a harsh, unglamorous look at the realities of law enforcement.

Joseph Wambaugh, who wrote the gripping, true-crime bestseller "The Onion Field" and numerous gritty but darkly humorous novels about day-to-day police work drawn from his own experiences as a Los Angeles police officer,

Joseph Wambaugh, the former LAPD officer who brought realism to the "Police Story" TV series and books like "The Onion Field," died Friday.

Joseph Wambaugh, a former police officer who became an acclaimed best-selling author, introducing audiences to the gritty, stark realities faced by fellow street cops, died Friday. He was 88. The longtime San Diego resident died of esophageal cancer in his second home in Rancho Mirage, said close friend Janene Gant.