Book excerpt: Crossroads: Conflicted Journey of a New Jersey State Trooper is a book that details the authors revelations about growing up in an inner city and making strategic decisions that paved the way for his entrance into the New Jersey State Police. Along the way, after attaining advanced degrees, and attending law enforcements most prestigious training academy, he was assigned to an internal investigative unit, which was purportedly in place to ferret out racial, sexual and gender discrimination. However, after investigating several cases, the author witnessed the pattern and practice of intentionally stalling investigations, which enabled high ranked commissioned officers to retire without being reprimanded. The author reported his allegations directly to those in charge, but instead of making institutional changes, they retaliated against him and denied him promotions. The author reluctantly filed a civil lawsuit, which made its way to the New Jersey Supreme Court, where he won and ultimately settled his case.