
Cops and Writers is a podcast hosted by retired police sergeant and author, Patrick O'Donnell. The podcast provides valuable insights and humor for crime writers who want to create accurate and believable police stories. O'Donnell conducts in-depth interviews with members of law enforcement and civilian experts, discussing police procedures and culture. He also interviews crime fiction writers and... more
| Publishes | Twice weekly | Episodes | 298 | Founded | 5 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | ComedyTrue Crime | |||

Send us Fan Mail
Welcome everyone to a bonus episode of the Cops and Writers podcast, author spotlight with bestselling author and publicist, Deborah Levison. Her first book, THE CRATE, won seven literary awards, and Lee Child, #1 New York Times bes... more
Send us Fan Mail
Welcome everyone to the conclusion of my interview with Naperville Police Department Retired Police Sergeant and now Spokesperson for the National Police Association, Betsy Brantner Smith.
Last week, we learned about Betsy’s journ... more
Send us Fan Mail
Can you imagine being the only female in your police academy class? How about the instructor telling you that you shouldn’t be in the classroom and instead should be giving him a blowjob? Or being a rookie cop and being formally dis... more
Send us Fan Mail
With historical shortages in law enforcement, today's departments have to find ways of augmenting positions that were traditionally filled by sworn law enforcement officers. One option is to have civilians working these jobs. On tod... more
People also subscribe to these shows.




Super interesting stories
A must listen if you enjoy good cop stories. My favorite ones are the NYPD interviews.
Patrick is a fantastic interviewer, and his guests bring fascinating insight on all things law enforcement, criminal activity, and true crime mentality. You won’t be disappointed in giving this show a listen. High quality production!
I absolutely love this show. The creator interviews the most interesting guests (both law enforcement AND criminals/reformed criminals). I follow the Facebook group, too, and although I don’t post often, I do once in a while and have gained a TON of knowledge from the community.
I’ve been following this podcast on Spotify for a while. When I realized my MacBook comes with Apple Podcasts I decided to follow here, too. Looking forward to more excellent interviews to come!
Patrick is an awesome host. Very knowledgeable, great question and insight. I enjoyed being in the show.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.










Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
A true-crime and policing-focused interview show where a retired police sergeant and author chats with current and former law enforcement, as well as crime writers and subject-matter experts. Episodes center on real-world procedures, investigative methods, and behind-the-scenes culture, often paired with storytelling and humor that appeals to writers crafting police realism. Notable strengths include deep-dive discussions with veterans, practical tips for accurate policing portrayal, and a strong community around independent publishing and true crime storytelling. Listeners likely value candid career stories, actionable insights for crime writing, and a mix of suspenseful cases with accessible, human-centered storytelling.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Cops and Writers Podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Cops and Writers Podcast and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Cops and Writers Podcast, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Cops and Writers Podcast, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Cops and Writers Podcast has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Cops and Writers Podcast:
1. Game of Crimes
2. Things Police See: Firsthand Accounts
3. The Sit Down: A Crime History Podcast
4. Mike Drop
5. Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Cops and Writers Podcast launched 5 years ago and published 298 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Cops and Writers Podcast from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Cops and Writers Podcast. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Cops and Writers Podcast include:
1. Betsy Brantner Smith
2. Frank Carson
3. Bill Greene
4. Nick Petrie
5. Jennifer Bucholtz
6. Tristin Kilgallon
7. Jenn Benjamins
8. Doug Fifer
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.