Probably true.

But he is able to contribute a couple things.

First, he has the communication skills to write informative articles and entice a publisher to publish them.

Most officers who may have been in a few gun fights can't do a good write-up and figure out how to get it published -- even if they wanted to (and most probably don't want to).

Second, MA has the personality and journalistic skills to conduct interviews with lots of officers and distill the info down in his stories.

I know several officers who have never been in a gun fight, or have only been in one. Their input is useful, but general conclusions drawn from a single event can be misleading.