Ralph Askew was born in 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio. He spent a total of 10 years in the Ohio National Guard, the California National Guard and the United States Marine Corps where he developed an interest in military history. After graduating from UCLA, he joined the LAPD where he spent most of his patrol time at the Newton Street Patrol Division as a field training officer. He retired from the police department after 21 years.  He is the author of Battleslave.  

According to the book description of Battleslave, “Chrisinda Balderack, a battledroid, was artificially produced in a laboratory solely for the purpose of fighting wars for the Galaxy. The production of battledroids meant that planets associated with the Galaxy did not have to provide the Galaxy with their own men to be killed in a far off war.  Very few battleroids ever returned home.  Many of the missions the battledroids were sent on were without support.  They were trained to kill their wounded to prevent them from falling into enemy hand, and revealing the objective of the mission or slowing down its completion.  Battledroids were trained to have no feelings.  After meeting a young girl her own age, Chrisinda develops emotions and feeling for her own fellow battledroids and finds that she cannot bring herself to kill her fellow wounded.”

One reader of Battleslave said, “I just finished reading Battleslave by Ralph Askew. Just by looking at the cover, I wanted to know who this person is. The character, Chrisinda Balderack gave me an inside view of someone torn between serving her Galaxy, as she is being trained to do, and caring for the members of her regime, which is forbidden. It is interesting to read about how enemies eventually become friends, and how that friendship creates one of the best groups of battledroids the Galaxy has ever seen. The ending leaves the reader wondering what happened? This book is written for anyone. If you like science fiction, military history, or human relations, then this is definitely worth reading. I can't wait for the sequel.”

About the Los Angeles Police Department
In February 1955, the Los Angeles Police Department, through the pages of the internally produced BEAT magazine, conducted a contest for a motto for the police academy. The conditions of the contest stated that: “The motto should be one that in a few words would express some or all the ideals to which the Los Angeles police service is dedicated. It is possible that the winning motto might someday be adopted as the official motto of the Department.” The winning entry was the motto, “To Protect and to Serve” submitted by Officer Joseph S. Dorobek.

“To Protect and to Serve” became the official motto of the Police Academy, and it was kept constantly before the officers in training as the aim and purpose of their profession. With the passing of time, the motto received wider exposure and acceptance throughout the department. On November 4, 1963, the Los Angeles City Council passed the necessary ordinance and the credo has now been placed alongside the City Seal on the Departments patrol cars.