(Lyrics to "Magic Carpet Ride"
by Steppenwolf)
TopCops from Around the World - How did it
all begin?
Please visit our tribute to our heros of Sept.
11, 2001 - WTC tragedy 
My name is Deborah. I have worked in the field of law enforcement
since 1985. I served as a New York State Parole officer for 7 1/2 years
and as a Senior Parole Officer for almost 2 years. I am still a peace officer
assigned as prosecutor for the division. I am the founder of TopCops on
the Internet.
TopCops began as a chat forum on the Internet. One night while sitting
at my computer waiting from some familiar "nic" to appear online,
I thought to myself, "We [law enforcement officers] need a special
place of our own to chat." This was August 5, 1995, at approximately
8:00pm. Obviously, this date was destined to be of great significance to
me as I remember it now as if it happened yesterday.
The #TopCops Channel is a group of law enforcement officers and criminal
justice professionals from all over the world. Even though the channel
originated as an open channel on efnet, it has been established as a private,
secured channel on undernet and dalnet servers. A few long-standing regular
members continue to maintain the channel. Wodsman manages the channel and
Fop, Warden and Alibi assist him in these efforts.
Evolving from the channel has been TopCops International Newsmagazine.
Our magazine began as a weekly email, distributed to a few chat friends,
but has evolved into an internationally acclaimed law enforcement publication
with approximately 2000 readers monthly, and from all corners of the globe.
The newsmagazine is published by myself as often as time allows.
We collect volumes of information from around the world from
members of our email discussion list, friends online, readers, newspapers
and from the World Wide Web. I put the articles together. The newsmagazine
is designed and published in .pdf format, which requires a current version
of Acrobat Reader in order to view. The Acrobat Reader is free and available
at http://www.adobe.com/ or http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.
Each month, our current issue (along with archived issues)
of the newsmagazine is loaded onto the TopCops Web Site for downloading
at our readers convenience. The TopCops International NewsMagazine can
be found on the World Wide Web at /news/newssub.htm.
Our newsmagazine motto is "TopCops Newsmagazine, a global experience".
Anyone interested in submitting articles for publication consideration
in the TopCops International Newsmagazine can email
lawwoman@topcops.com
and include a brief summary of the article. Because we are a nonprofit
organization, we do not pay for any submissions nor do we make any claims
to ownership of any material submitted.
Aside from the newsmagazine, our Web Site has evolved into an internationally
acclaimed law enforcement web site located on the web as www.topcops.com.
Our site has been featured in many law enforcement publications and resource
books and journals. Lt. Ken Kramerman (a.k.a. Lt617) was our first dedicated
and tireless webmaster, as well as a long-time channel member. He began
serving as a member of our board of directors early in TopCops' history.
Our most recent webmistress had been Therese (Tee) Wilson, better known
online as NiteOwl^. She has brought TopCops to it's current web design.
Finally, TopCops webpage is being maintained and managed by it's owner,
Deborah Gulley.
When the live chat phenomenon fizzled out, we developed TopCops-L
and Friends2TopCops-L. TopCops-L is restricted email discussion list developed
from a small group of original TopCops channel members. Freinds2TopCops-L
is open to any interested party but several members of our restricted list
participate on the civilian list. More information on joining the list
can be found at /news/topcopsl.htm.
Some of our long time, dedicated TopCops supporters (from the original
channel all the way to our current Listserv) are Volkmar and Kolle (our
German police officers), Alibi, Fop, Wodsman, Warden, Trugoo, Deputy901,
Xnarc and myself. I am the list owner and Gary Gorman is co-partner in the
role of management and operation of the list. The list is restricted to
all members of law enforcement, active and retired.
Our email discussion membership is NOT cops only, as we believe all
parts work together when all parts understand the function of the other.
For this reason, our membership includes prosecutors, dispatchers, court
officers, corrections officers, probation officers, DEA agents, FBI agents,
military police officers and agents, and local, county, parish, and state
officers of every rank and file. As long as the person is active
in a law enforcement related position, they are eligible for membership
on TopCops-L Listserv.
The TopCops-L application can be found at TCapplic.pdf.
All interested persons must be willing to submit proof of peace officer
status (typically a copy of official ID) upon request for membership. Copies
of IDs can be sent via email by sending a scanned image to lawwoman@topcops.com
or to anyone of our List Screeners around the world. Your nearest List
Screener can be located at listscrn.htm.
Also, the information can be faxed to 718-380-6343.
TopCops-L was established on January 27, 1998 when a Listserv
company known as Lsoft.com donated the list. Over a period of one year,
TopCops-L has developed into a forum of friendship, comradeship and informational
exchange. List members Gary Gorman and Al Sheppard, retired members of
NYPD, brainchild and sponsor our most prestigious project to date, TopCops
Condolence Card Program.
This same concept has been launched under the name of T.E.A.R.S
- (TopCops Enforcement Agencies Reaching Survivors) "Consoling
Families of Fallen Officers from around the World." Our goal
is to offer a consoling gesture to the families of Fallen Officers From
Around the World. We will continue to offer some small consolation
to families of fallen officers, as we have in the past, with our
newly designed cards.
TopCops on the Internet has been fortunate enough to find favor with
Nick Mileur of the International Police Association and he has been one
of our staunchest and grandest supporters. Nick does a feature item in
the IPA International Reporter and he has done two feature articles about
TopCops in the past year. You may seek membership in the IPA and get more
information at http://www.ipa-usa.org/.
Since it's inception on August 5, 1995, TopCops on the Internet
has become a major presence, influence and law enforcement resource on
the Internet. This is exclusively thanks to all our friends, supporters
and members who are devoted to the goal of creating a positive image of
the Law Enforcement Community on a global scale.
TopCops, Home of TopCops from Around the World.
Deborah Gulley
lawwoman@topcops.com