Pensacola’s Police Historian
West Florida’s True Crime Storyteller and Heritage Scholar
For more than three decades, Michael Earl Simmons has documented, preserved, and brought to life the extraordinary stories of Pensacola and West Florida law enforcement. As a police academy director, a second-generation Pensacola Police Officer, and a retired sergeant and homicide detective, he is uniquely positioned to tell the stories behind the badge — from frontier justice and forgotten murders to legendary lawmen and heroic sacrifices.
Through books, lectures, tours, podcast episodes, and historical research, Simmons is the region’s leading voice on the history of policing, crime, and justice across Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties.