Officer Deon Joseph author of Stepping Across the Line, A Skid Row  Cops Story, is a law enforcement consultant who has worked for the Los  Angeles Police Department for 25 years, twenty two of those years in  downtown Los Angeles’s Skid Row community. From patrolling the  streets or providing a shoulder for the community to lean on to meeting  with public figures and advocating for change, Deon is driven to create  an environment conducive to change for the homeless and those trying to  reclaim their lives from the grip of addiction. Deon is considered a  subject matter expert on Skid Row crime and culture and has been  sought out by multiple news organizations, various police departments,  educational institutions, filmmakers, and politicians to speak on issues related to Skid Row.