'Tough, straight-talking' John Timoney '67

You'd think, with all that experience, that the famous straight-talker would have a whole bunch of stories to tell about cops, politicians and the press - some funny, some sad, some just plain old interesting.

You'd be right.

"The Irish are great bulls--- artists," Timoney said yesterday, hitting a 10 on an imaginary self-deprecation meter.

"My mother was a great storyteller. From the time I was a kid, I used to sit in the kitchen and listen to her tell stories about the olden days.

"Maybe I picked it up from her. Otherwise, I'm not quite sure."

Timoney's storytelling skills are front and center in his soon-to-published book, "Beat Cop to Top Cop: A Tale of Three Cities."

The former Philadelphia police commissioner - who came here from New York, then went to Miami - will visit Philly on May 11 to the launch the book, which is more an account of lessons learned in law enforcement than it is an autobiography.

"I didn't want to do a memoir," he said, "because all you do is brag without addressing your screw-ups. I tried to write a halfway fair book."

The book details dramatic drops in crime that he oversaw in all three cities as well as controversies that dogged him in each town. CLICK FOR MORE