Captain Robert B. Heinen was a police officer for the Kansas City Police Department (Missouri) from 1946 to 1974.  He retired at the rank of Captain.  At the beginning of World War II a then 17 year old Robert B. Heinen enlisted the United States Navy.  He served four years in both the Atlantic and Pacific.  Six months after the war he joined the Kansas City Police Department.  He is published his autobiography The Battle Behind the Badge in 1997. 

According to the book description of The Battle Behind the Badge: The Story of a Police Captain's Struggle Against Corruption and Political Interference, “Rarely is a police officer given an organized crime number, but the IRS branded three in Kansas City. Captain Robert B. Heinen was exposed as one of the three during a senate subcommittee investigation of the IRS. Thus began an investigation of Heinen that lasted for seven years, the same years that he was methodically knocking out various rackets controlled by the Mafia; the underworld organization the IRS accused him of consorting with. In this candid, unusual book, Captain Heinen reveals his remarkable life of nearly three decades on the Kansas city Missouri Police Department. After serving four years in the navy during WWII he joined the KCPD and became disillusioned with the thieves and grafters among the officers. The Battle Behind the Badge is a personal account of a man who tried to hold to the ideals he learned while growing up in a typical American rural town, where simple values such as honesty are the rule, and a man's word is his bond.”

The Battle Behind the Badge: The Story of a Police Captain's Struggle Against Corruption and Political Interference Robert Heinen  More Info

One reader of The Battle Behind the Badge: The Story of a Police Captain's Struggle Against Corruption and Political Interference said, it “takes you on the streets of Kansas City with Captain Heinen as your partner. BEWARE! On your shift you'll not only encounter dangerous street thugs, but high-powered organized crime figures. When you return to the station house to file your reports, be prepared to battle corrupt police officials and egocentric city hall politicians. "The Battle Behind the Badge" is an excellent hardball account of Kansas City during a time when it was difficult to tell who the bad guy was. Captain Heinen is an honest cop who pays for his integrity by being yo-yoed up and down the ranks. He is Kansas City's "Serpico." This is a very good read that took a lot of guts to write.”