Here I Stand gives the reader a glimpse into the life of a career police officer as recalled by Robert Fletcher. As Fletcher is standing at the head of the conference table in the Organized Crime Bureau, being honored for thirty years of dedicated service, memories come flooding back. Here I Stand presents these memories, good and bad, as they happened. This true account starts with the author being a teenager in trouble with the law. After being caught in the midst of a crime, he was given a second chance and became a straight arrow. Later, the Phoenix Police Department took a chance on him and an outstanding career began. From the very beginning his career was unique. About half way through the police academy, the entire class was pulled out and put into service to help quell a race riot in Phoenix. After being back in the academy for a short period, Fletcher and eleven other recruits were chosen to be turned loose on the City without training officers. That was a grand experiment that was never repeated. Robert Fletcher worked on numerous details and assignments during his career. They included Patrol, Walking Beat, Selective Enforcement, Warrant Detail, Solo Motorcycles, Detective Bureau, Community Relations Bureau, Information Desk, Communications Bureau, and at the time of his retirement, he was the sergeant in charge of the Investigations Unit of the Organized Crime Bureau. This book shares memories from each of these details and assignments.

ROBERT FLETCHER (1823-1912) was a highly regarded bibliographer and medical scholar, who played an important role in the development of the Surgeon General's Library in Washington DC.