Joseph Schaefer

Author • Retired Police Commander

Joseph Schaefer smiling in a blue blazer and white T-shirt beside a lake, with the Orlando skyline and a fountain behind him

Meet the Author

Joseph Schaefer

Author • Retired Police Commander

Joseph Schaefer is an author and retired police commander whose career included homicide investigations and leadership in law enforcement. His writing explores strength through struggle, trust, and the questions that shape how we live and lead.

He is the author of Beautifully Broken: 14 Principles to Building Strength Through Struggle and The Trust Ledger: A Police Reform Paradigm.

The Story Behind the Books

Service, struggle, and trust.

  1. A career in service

    Joseph’s law enforcement career included homicide investigations and leadership. He is a retired police commander.

  2. Strength through struggle

    In Beautifully Broken, Joseph explores 14 principles for building strength through struggle.

    Explore Beautifully Broken

  3. Trust and reform

    In The Trust Ledger, Joseph explores police reform through the lens of trust, informed by his experience in law enforcement and leadership.

    Explore The Trust Ledger

  4. How we live and lead

    Across both books, his writing explores the questions that shape how we live and lead.

Books by Joseph

Start a conversation.

Invite Joseph to speak, schedule an interview, or bring his books to your book club.

Speaking & Media Inquiries Contact
Cover of Beautifully Broken: 14 Principles to Building Strength Through Struggle by Joseph Schaefer, showing a smiling woman with gold-repaired cracks across her face against a deep red background
Cover of The Trust Ledger: A Police Reform Paradigm by Joseph Schaefer, showing a bronze police badge marked with a dollar sign and ledger figures on a rainy city street at night, with an International Impact Book Awards Distinguished Author seal