cop Books

A truly insightful view of of a modern urban police force. As a Baltimore native, I have a greater understanding to the strategy and tactics employed to police this city.

Even before watching The Wire, I was very interested in what actually goes on in tough inner city neighborhoods - particularly between cops, criminals, and regular citizens. Peter Moskos was on the street there as a cop, and the combination of hard headed practicality, a love of cities, and a broad background in sociology make for an engaging and low-bs read. Anyone who's interested in the drug war, police culture, or the future of the inner city should definitely read it (and it's a quick read).

Anyone who loved The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything will love this intrinsic look into Baltimore policing as a microcosm for the war on drugs. Moskos shows the inner working of a system so many of us have preconceived notions about. Is it racist? Turns out it isn't. Is it working? No. Is it the cop's fault? Not the ones that are on the street.
Moskos mixes lyrics by rapper Ice T, quotes by Al Capone and police statistics immaculately. The writing about middle of the night encounters with dealers, junkies and gang members is amazingly detailed, and constantly put me in his position as a rookie cop on the dangerous East Baltimore streets. What would I do if I were in his position? I would be afraid. Very afraid.
The day to day life (or night to night life in Moskos' case) is filled with such encounters many of them having very humane and sometimes humorous resolutions. In one case Moskos is dealing with a domestic assault where none of the other cops wanted to get into the house because it smelled so bad. Moskos confronted the woman:
"Why is it so stinky?" I asked the woman.
"He don't bathe. Not in a year."
"Why not?"
"He lazy."
"That's pretty lazy," I said, "because once you get in the tub, bathing kind of takes care of itself."
(In this case Moskos didn't get him to bathe)
The book is filled with simple and realistic "tipping point" ideas on how to improve the current system from within while using Prohibition and the successful Dutch non-war on drugs as examples of a greater historical context without ever being preachy. Cop in the Hood is a must read, not just for non-fiction lovers and avid viewers of HBO's The Wire - The Complete First Season, but, truly, for everyone who ever wondered about this thing called the war on drugs.

Despite the terrible cover (even by academic press standards), this looked right up my alley for a number of reasons: (1) a good friend just moved to Baltimore and I've been trying to read more about the city, (2) I know mainstream Baltimore pretty well and was interested in learning about a part of the city I've never ventured into, (3) I've been a big fan of The Wire since season one, and wanted to see how closely reality coincided with that drama, and (4) I've been on a bit of a "academic as participant/observer" reading binge lately, including books like Brothel, Rolling Nowhere, and Gang Leader for a Day, and wanted to compliment those with a inside look at policework.

Like those three books, this one was born from academic roots, as Moskos was scouting around for a project for his PhD dissertation. After approaching and being rejected by several city police forces, the Baltimore PD accepted his proposal to work as a cop for a year with the knowledge he would write about his experience. So, the good news is that his account of policing starts from day one at the academy and proceeds unbroken for twenty months, which is a marked contrast to some of the books mentioned above, in which the authors dip in and out of the culture/life they are exploring. The bad news is that everyone Moskos served with knew he was writing a book. The problem of observation influencing behavior is well-established in documentary film and ethnography, and Moskos seems to underplay it's effects a bit too much.

Some more good news is that Moskos is meticulous is outlining both the psychology and procedure of being a patrol officer. As a city employee myself, it didn't surprise me (though it did depress me), the extent to which urban policework is hindered by bureaucracy and administrative fiat. The overreliance on patrolling from cars, the strict adherence to the policy of immediate response to any call for service (311 or 911 call), the avalanche of paperwork generated by any officer activity, all of these contribute to a environment that lends itself to officers "gaming the system" for their own comfort and/or financial benefit. While I love this kind of insider procedural detail and the explanations of the mentality it engenders, the book suffers from being a good deal too dry.

To a certain extent, this reflects the reality of most policework, which is boring and laden with paperwork. However, the books I mentioned are all engaging precisely because their authors do a great job of making characters out of themselves an the subjects of their study, and that just doesn't happen here. Moskos never lets us get to know his fellow officers or much of himself, and without that personal connection, it ends up reading like a long social policy paper (or a revised dissertation, which it i). The ultimate policy conclusion of the book is not a shocking one, but for those interested in the "war on drugs" it's certainly worth reading, as it is capably outlined and grounded in Moskos' personal fieldwork. Basically, Moskos argues that the war on drugs is a total disaster from a policing perspective, creating a huge drain on resources that could be more effectively directed at other social problems. He believes that the country has yet to learn the lesson easily drawn from the history of alcohol prohibition (which he goes into in rather digressive length and detail), which is that making things illicit merely removes it from government control (and taxation), without reducing demand.

While I'm personally more or less on board with this conclusion and am heartened to see it supported up by Moskos' day-to-day patrolman experiences, it's not really what I came to read about. The book will tell you very little at all about Baltimore (perhaps because Moskos is not from there), and beyond spelling out some of street-level mechanics of the drug trade, there's not much here about East Baltimore you couldn't have gleaned from The Wire and/or The Corner. To a certain extent, one has to feel a little bad for Moskos, since that show kind of steals his thunder. Which bring up another point, his service was about seven years ago, and one has to wonder to what extent things have changed since then, if 9/11 has had an impact on policing, or the increased use of computers, for example.

In any event, while it's certainly readable (aside from numerous typos), it never really engages, and that's why I ultimately found it somewhat disappointing. I would highly highly recommend it to anyone thinking about becoming a city cop, and it' also probably worth reading if you're into criminology, ethnography, and drug policy -- otherwise it's probably of limited interest.

Moskos' book recounts his 14 months on the beat and his training as a Baltimore city police officer. The book is an abridged version of his doctoral dissertation. Turning a dissertation into popular reading is difficult and the book falls down in a number of places. A long history of Prohibition suddenly turns up at the end and is only partially well woven into the text. There are other drifts into facts and figures, as well, and the effect tends to be more didactic than illuminating. For example, there is a needless listing of arrest statistics for Moskos and his colleagues, where a sentence or two about the range of arrest records would have sufficed. Like many ethnographies, some of the most interesting details are in the footnotes (actually, endnotes here), often told more concisely and succinctly written than much of the main text. There also are longitudinal survey data that don't get discussed at all until the endnotes and would seem to have materially affected Moskos' relationship with other officers. He tends to minimize the impact of writing a book on his relationships and observations, beyond his introduction to the force and one wonders how well he actually monitored all of that. In addition, very routine, often difficult aspects of policing such as domestic violence (mentioned in passing) and dealing with the mentally ill (no mention at all) get little coverage here.

Despite the detail, the book really fails to get at a certain level of depth in terms of the relationships among cops and the motivations to join and remain on the force. Indeed, some interesting information on racial and gender differences in motivation to join the force turn up in the endnotes and apparently will be part of another publication. Moskos pulls punches a bit with regard to the conduct of his fellow officers. His father (noted military sociologist Charles Moskos) has been criticized for taking many aspects of the military's "color blindness" and meritocracy at face value. Moskos seems to do the same early on in his book with respect to the presence of corruption and other misconduct, yet the endnotes indicate that 10% of his class left the police because of their conduct, a remarkable percentage in a field where it is difficult to fire people with a certain level of tenure. Later on in the book, Moskos does talk about people who seem to have limited motivation or other problems in the job and intimates at excessive uses of force. Because this kind of material is not well developed, it becomes difficult to see the context where misconduct or poor performance occur and the motivations of the people involved. The web of relationships among the officers and the sense of Moskos' colleagues as people could have been better developed with more attention to case studies. He may have wished to protect identities, and avoided this, although other information, like arrest records would seem to offer thin protection of confidentiality. Compared with classic, intimate ethnographic portraits like "Street Corner Society" or "The Urban Villagers", the book falls short, particularly in relation to Whyte's appreciation of everyday language or Gans' ability to go back and forth between jargon and everyday life.

Moskos lays out a number of policy proposals, but they seem a bit naive, particularly in terms of how they would be introduced, implemented and monitored. The orientation of law enforcement and the culture that reinforces it are well developed in the book, but their impediments to change are not well considered. Similarly, comparisons with the Netherlands fail to take into account differences in culture, social structure, etc. that would affect adaptation to the US.

If readers are concerned that I'm a little harsher than earlier reviewers, a few considerations are in order: I'm not his brother; I've done qualitative research; I have known police officers, personally, at a number of points in my life; and previously had some involvement in the evaluation of prospective police cadets. Like Moskos, I also took time off from my studies and worked in a sometimes dangerous field where I occasionally had contact with police---in my case working in psychiatric hospitals, which gave me an irreplaceable education. The psychiatric field has no end of ethnographic and journalistic accounts of varying quality, as well as fiction based on fact like "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest". I ca appreciate academic aspects of the book, as well as its popular appeal and the bridges between the two. Moskos' book will inform those who haven't had much to do with police, but are curious. Unfortunately, this will require some plowing through tedious detail, and some people may not make it all the way through. On the other hand, a reading of a good journalistic account of police work such as David Simon's "Homicide" (also taking place in Baltimore), might be more enjoyable.

This is the second book in the Raintree triology that was written by three women who were able to work so well together so well that this fascinating tale goes very smoothly and is a must read for good light reading. The combination of romace, phychic powers and charactors will keep you interested from page one right up until you finish the very last word.

This is the worst Linda Howard book I have read. SPOILER-In the first third of the book, the woman is mind raped, mind controlled-she couldn't speak or move, kidnapped, and her clothes are ripped off-by Dante. Ms. Howard spends the next part of the book having Dante justify what he did-although 'he would do it again'. I'm glad I have read other Linda Howard books. If this was my first, it would have definitely been my last.

Neither Hope nor Gideon appear to have much reason for what they do. The premise of "I see dead people" has been done to death also. The characters were cardboard. There was no mystery. The evil woman wasn't even interesting. I should have known when the Linda Howard first book wasn't that good that the series was not going anywhere. I recommend spending scarce reading hours elsewhere.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the chemistry between the two strong characters of Gideon and Hope - even though the romance moved a bit too quick to be completely believable, this IS a romance, after all, so that made it kind of fun.

I would have liked to have found out more about the dark forces working against them. Why did Cael send Tabby to kill the Raintree heirs, what the heck was she going to do with her trophies? But, I liked this book about Gideon and his unique powers over electricity.

This book was very good. It had great pacing and was quite good at holding my interest (which is not always easy). Although it is not the first in the series, it makes you want to get the trilogy.

This two-story collectio by two of my favorite authors has made it to the top of my "hot reads" pile and is likely to live there for a while.

1) Her Wildest Dreams by Shiloh Walker - Definately a five star read. I'd give it six or seven stars if I could. This is a sequel to "Good Girls Don't" (which I have only been able to find in e-book form). As a warning, Allie and Alex like sex rough, raw and no-holds barred. This story is one of the hottest I've ever read and at the same time the love story aspect is very emotional. In my opinion, this is Walker's best.

2) Cowboy and the Captive by Lora Leigh - This one would rate about four stars for me. While the storyline is good, I didn't like the premise, but Leigh is a good enough writer she could have pulled it off had she expanded this into a longer, book-length story. In direct contrast to Walker's story, this one takes a huge step back from sex. Because Leigh is so known for her sexy stories, and because EC teamed it with such an over-the-top-hot tale, I really was expecting more steam from this one. Leigh kept the focus firly on the storyline, though, which involved twin confusion (one of my peeves) and pulls in a cameo from one of the August brothers.

No matter your mood, this two-in-one will have a story to suit you. if you want drama, read Leigh. If you want sexy, read Walker. It's an excellent duo and well worth the purchase price.

I am not going to go into detail, I see this has been nicely done. Lora and Shiloh do not disappoint with these erotic tales. Both stories were compelling with hot erotica. I recommend this compilation.

I bought this book for the Lora Leigh story (Cowboy & the Captive) but staid for the Shiloh Walker story. Don't get me wrong Leigh's story is good but I gave the five stars here for the first book;(Her Wildest Dreams). I liked the fact that the heroin did not cower away when she was pushed aside in the beginning by her hero and that she took herself on a trip purely for self redemption. The love scenes are scalding hot and the chemistry between the two is so strong you can reach out and touch it. I simply fell in love with Ms. Walker's book.

I adored both these stories and found them to be pure escapism. I would recommend them to anyone over 18. Fabulous writers!

Lora Leigh fans will not be disappointed! The Alpha Males in this book showed compassion and tenderness to Cat's situation where she is once again being punished for her evil identical twin's ruthless actions. The sex scenes were erotic and even had the main Alpha character proposing to get the woman who has stolen his heart. I am a fan for Victorian romances and I love the way that Cat had that touch of innocence. Anal scenes were not kinky but a touch romantic as well. I have read this book over and over.

This dictionary is excellent. It gives very detailed translations and excellent explanations. Plenty of cultural background info and a very ample variety of words. Worth overy penny.

This is a great book for anyone with a police officer in the family. It really helped me to understand some of the things my husband is going through and also helped him understand me. Great!

The title leads one to believe the book is written only for the officers' spouses. No way! Every law enforcement officer and his/her spouse (and older children as well)need to understand the dynamics of this career, as it is so well presented here. But there's something more. I happen to be a Catholic priest and a Police Chaplain, and I "found myself" in every chapter in the book. I recommend this text for any and all caregivers and their families, and also for single persons involved in any of these professions. While it isn't politically correct right now, the book's title could have been "I Love a Priest" (let's make that "I Love a Clergy Person.") I strongly urge firefighters to read her companion volume, "I Love a Firefighter."

This book is pretty good at explaining what goes on in police families although a lot of families, mine included, are not really included in this book. I guess you could say we have a good family life and my husband does not bring his work home with him. We do talk about everything though so I am not shut out of his work. It gave me a better understanding of the stresses he has to deal with and what to look out for in case hethings change. Again, good book but more from a clinical point of view.

"I Love a Cop" is an excellent book for families of police officers (and officers) on the lifestyle in a law enforcement career. Does an excellent job of explaining the emotional strains of shifts and job stresses, how officers change, and the strain put on a family. This is a book full of support and resources, including recommendations for therapy when needed--valuable reading for families and officers.

Andy O'Hara, Badge of Life project

This is a must have for anyone going into, thinking about going into or already in Law enforcement; especially if you are married or getting married. This book will help prepare you for the social and personal hardships you will face as a police officer. The author uses real stories from police family's to give the reader ways of working out problems in the family unit that are caused directly because of work. This book will not only help you as the cop prepare for whats to come but it will help your loved once understand what you go through on a daily basis and give you the tools you need to have a healthy relationship while serving your community.

"Justice" by Faye Kellerman, ©1995

"Justice" is an older story by Mrs. Kellerman. I have read stories by her that come after this, judging by the occupation and situations Peter Decker is in.
He is a detective investigating a homicide at a hotel after a prom dance. His main candidate for doing the deed is a nephew or adopted son of a Mafia kingpin from New York. The tragedy is that others get caught up and become so much trash on the way to a conviction. The bugaboo is that the fellow is not really the doer, and the doer is not necessarily the killer, because of drugs and what not. It becomes a sad dance of retribution nobody wins and the dead stay dead.

Justice (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
great read. Can't put it down.

The book's story has its ups and downs as many books. It has the family story and the thrilling story but you'll be interested in both because neither one is boring. The end is like waking-up from a nightmare but it won't desappoint you. You'll have a good time reading this book.

This book, in my opinion, is the best of all Kellerman's. It's gripping and compelling and you just can't put it down... Also, Chris Whitman is indescribable: you fall for him despite everything and this is what's so scary. You know deep down that he is reeeeaaaaly bad but you can't help hoping for him to some how turn out good...
To find out more about him and Terry you should read Stone Kiss.

Having read this book I still don't know what the main theme was. Is it a love story, a crime novel which follows a serial killer, a disturbing look on how teens spend their time on prom night, an inside look into a mafia family, or just a chilling detective story?

Nevermind, it's up to detective Peter Decker to unravel the complex murder of a girl that was strangled on prom night. There is a nice balance between action and suspense(multiple murders) and the private life of Peter Decker when he talks to his wife Rina Lazarus about his hard and difficult life as a LAPD detective. This gives us a little time to relax, before the suspense starts all over again.

Faye Kellerman is also great in describing Jewish rituals, which is interesting if you don't know anything about the Jewish religion. Another case for Peter Decker to solve, hopefully many will follow !

Fabulous read, couldn't put it down.For fans of the Bible Answerman Radio show-this book reiterates common themes heard on the show:his coined term E2-Exegetical Eschatology-L.I.G.H.T.S.:using proper principles to read the Bible for all its worth,equiping oneself in Biblical discernment so as not to fall for tabloid sensationalistic end times prophecies du jour-critiques of a type of dispensationalism-where emphasis is put on a chosen race due to ethinicity not of belief & relationship to God(especially a retort to the Left Behind Series)..A brief background history of the atmosphere for 1stc. Christians,Patmos,the Roman Emperors etc.True Israel/False Israel, the True Bride of Christ/The Prostituted Bride of Christ, gematria/ 666 etc. It encourages believers to put the emphasis back on the Savior instead of on fear of the endtimes.

This book is a must read for every Christian. Hank hits the nail on the head when it comes to "reading the Bible for all its worth" and for anyone who is interested in what the book of Revelation is really communicating. Hank makes a clear and concise presentation of what it is that most Christians believe about the end times controversy and why they beleive it. He also clearly demonstrates the problem with dispensationalism and why "prophetic" preachers are missing the mark. I wish every Christian would open their eyes to this issue so that sound fundemental teaching within the church would return on the end times controversy. No other explaination of the book of Revelation makes sense. Thanks Hank for your dedication, time and for standing for TRUTH in a world where people will believe anything.

In general, I agree with Hanegraaff's biblical exegesis. However, he is in serious need of a better editor. This book's content is good, but it's HIGHLY repetitive. Basically, if you read the first 50 to 100 pages, you've got the gist of his argument. The rest just repeats itself - same examples over and over...and over. For this reason alone, I won't be able to recommend this book to people.

Another weakness of this volume is that the author doesn't present a coherent model for interpreting Scripture. Rather than organizing the content around the theme of poking holes in traditional dispensationalism, he would have been better served putting for the positive case for his position. How does his view deal with the hard passages? What is his view on the millennium? etc. Unless you're a trained theologian or a highly well read lay person, you won't have the foggiest idea what the author is talking about about half the time.

The best strength of the volume was the author's square confrontation of the misguided efforts of Christian Zionism to rebuild the Temple and the horrible human rights violations we have supported against the Palestinians. Christians ought to be deeply troubled by these issues. Sadly, many evangelicals are not.

I really wanted this book to be good. Seriously. I want to find an entry-level book to recommend to friends that will introduce them to these important ideas. But this ain't it...

I have been brought up in churches that have a traditional dispensationalist view point on eschatology. I have always had questions about it and some of the areas of scripture that we would cover didn't seem to line up with the dispensational view. As of right now I am just currently reading through revelation with commentaries that provide different view points and reading books by authors with different view points. Therefore, right now I do not prefer one eschatological view over another.
That being said, this book was not very helpful in having a better or deeper understanding of eschatology. Hank Hanegraaff focuses more on dismanteling dispensationalism, rather than building a model of his own. Now I know some who have commented on this book have mentioned how Hanegraaff teaches one "How" to think rather than "What" to think. I think it is a great concept but I don't really think that is what Hanegraaff does in this book. It is ALWAYS much easier to poke holes in a theory than to construct one of your own and expose it to the same scrutiny and criticism.
After reading the Apocalypse Code I walked away with far more questions than answers. Even the statements and small conclusions that Hanegraaff states in his book are not well thought out or well supported. He doesn't get deep into anyone topic.
Bottom line, he attacked an argument without ever establishing his own. This book was not very helpful for me in having a better understanding of eschatology. Again he makes some interesting claims but does not provide nearly enough support for them and never puts them together in the form of a model so that the reader can see how they flow together. My feeling is that there are probably other books out there that make similar claims as those make by Hanegraaff but do a better job of laying them out in a model where the reader can see the details and have more questions answered.
I felt as if I was reading an introduction to the book the entire way through the book. It left me with a sense as if the book never really began.

If Hanky would spend as much time on scripture as he does on attacking his enemy and Israel, then this could be a great book. But , alas it is just another exercise in spiritual egotism and boasting.

Although some background in constitutional law may be helpful, this book is very readable. Fisher is a thorough scholar, but he is also honest in giving vent to his frustration with Congress' cessation of war power in the modern evolution of Executive-Legislative relations.

This book is a great resource for historical and anecdotal information on the constitutional balance of power between the President and the Congress. Well-cited, and with a firm basis in constitutional logic and theory, Fisher develops a clear case that -although it does take on a diatribal flavor at times- does not require academic contortions to be demonstrated.

The criticism of the War Powers Act is very powerful, and needs to be understood more broadly in America. The unconstitutionality of the act is one reason it is never seriously invoked by the President or insisted upon by Congress, yet many people still refer to it as the crux for understanding the war powers balance between the Presidency and the Congress.

An excellent book for anyone interested in Constitutional allocation of power; useful for students, professors, and the concerned citizen.

Constitutional scholar Louis Fisher has done a magnificent job capturing the history of what he calls "presidential warmaking" -- that is, the tendency of presidents to usurp Congress's Constitutional war-making power. Fisher is not persuaded by claims advanced by modern presidents -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- that the Commander-in-Chief clause grants them broad discretionary war-making powers. His book is a long legal brief in favor of returning the war powers to the Congress.

At times, Fisher's belief in the rightness of his cause borders on the polemic. Though he recognizes that Congress has been complicit in presidential war-making, he reserves his harshest criticism for the presidents themselves. Arguably, however, it takes two to tango; if Congress actually *wanted* the war powers, it could take them "back." But as research shows, it is easier -- and therefore more palatable -- to sit on the sidelines, sniping at the president in case of failure or claiming a share of the credit after success.

No student of American politics or American foreign policy can plausibly claim to discuss the role of the executive branch in military/foreign policy without having digested Fisher's book.

Fisher's book is the strongest demonstration of how far we have allowed the original constitutional design of the war power to be destroyed that I've seen so far. Originally the war power was designed to avoid allowing a single person (i.e. the President) to decide whether we go to war; that was the duty of Congress. Fisher documents this fact and then examines two hundred years of American armed conflicts. Until the early 20th Century, with only minor deviations, it was understood that the President had to get authorization from Congress before entering armed conflicts. Only after WWII did the President claim the sole power to go to war, with Congress simply along for the ride. Fisher is nonpartisan in his criticism, attacking every President from Truman to Bush II, though he is supportive of Eisenhower's limited return to Congressional consultation. Fisher explains how practically every military action taking in this period was unconstitutional.

What I like most about this book is the fact that Fisher, unlike many other critics of this problem, does not seek to push the Supreme Court to intervene and restrain the President. Instead, he places the burden upon Congress. Fisher examines attempts to constrain presidential power, such as the War Powers Act, and illustrates that each has been insufficient and offers proposed changes to improve these checks. An interesting and informative read and we can only hope that someday Congress will again take up its responsibility rather than hide behind the President and then blame him if things go badly.

I am in school for Criminal Jutice and plan to start Police Academy in a few months. All I know about being a cop is that something is pushing me to do it. I am not fully aware yet of everything I am getting into, but something keeps me from giving up. This my life long dream and passion. After reading this book it gave me so much more courage and wisdom to know that I can make a difference. Most people would fear what Randy has encountered, but I pray to do the same things. I know it will not be easy, but with prayer and faith, anything can happen. This book was very educational to me, and I loved every story. Great job!! *Kerista*

The author Sgt Sutton is actually a lieutenant in my police agency and I, for one, feel priveleged we have a man that has gone through all this in this book as a head in my police dept! God bless him and officers all around this world!

This book is better than other cop memoirs because much of it is the unvarnished, unpainted skinny on real police work. Most of the stories are depressing and sad and frightening. Morons and whack-jobs and bottom-feeders are who cops deal with.

The book is well-written, the subject is interesting, and the stories are realistic and plausible. I read the book in one evening. It's THAT engrossing.

Randy Sutton compiles a collection of true cop stories that will leave you reeling. Devoid of any gooey sentiment but true to the street beat that these cops work. At times scary, depressing, uplifting and heroic these cops tell a story of sacrifice, family and the failure of society. Not an easy book to get through at times but highly recommended.

I'm a student at Eastern Kentucky University majoring in Police Studies in hopes of becoming a police officer. When walking through Wal-Mart, this book caught my eye, and although school has turned me against reading, I bought it anyways. Later that day, I sat down and began to read the book, and couldn't put it down. I felt that I was living Sgt. Sutton's life right there in my living room. This is a very powerful book!

This is an important book for everyone. It really shows how workings of the justice system are very much different than commonly supposed. It addition to valuable information for the individual in their dealing with the authorities it has some valuable sociological insights into how the legal system might be improved. The book gives the lie to the notion of 'innocent' until proven guilty.' If you are arrested the record stays out there to affect your life. It is the case that 'if you were arrested then you must be guilty of something.' ... I bought several copies and passed them out to my friends.

I read this book and was both shocked, ticked and, well, amazed. A lot was just plain common sense. But a lot I would have never imagined. The bottom line is this is a must read for every person no matter what the age. I have showed it to a couple teachers and they were amazed at how easy it is for even a kid in school to get a criminal record that will haunt him for hte rest of his life. You will hear a lot of things you want to believe do not exist in the United States, but believe it! It does happen to good people, even what the author calls "Whitebread America". The book talks of how the way one dresses, talks, drives, walks and who they associate with can all contribute to their 'arrestibility'. This book is a no nonsense book on how to reduce the risk of ever getting a criminal record by a man who has been in law enforcement for a very long time. He pulls no punches and tells it like it is. He even touches on subjects like the 'pussification' of America and how the old ideal of 'innocent till proven guilty' has been replaced by 'guilty till proven innocent'. I don't care if you are a hip hop punk or a soccer mom. You NEED to read this book! It could save you from the true nightmare of an arrest record which could cause you problems from not being able to get a job to not being able to get credit to buy a new home. Did you know that you can end up with a criminal record for little more then being taken in for questioning and then just set free? Unbelievable right? But I personally know of a person who has had this happen and was denied a job because now he shows up as having a criminal record. Prospective employers could care less if you were guilty, just that in a check you show up with a record. Buy this book and read it if you value your rights.

This is an essential guide for everyone--it doesn't matter what your previous encounters with law enforcement have been. Carson explains that in the world of criminal justice, it's all a numbers game: how many arrests can the beat cop make? how many tickets can he write? how many convictions can the prosecutor get? how can the city/county/state make money off the people who end up in the endless cycle of the justice system? (Don't believe me? Read Reason Magazine's story about Tracy Ingle. Unfortunately, most police officers are in the business of policing because they want to play cops and robbers; they aren't in it to help people.

The most eye opening part of this book was when he explains how someone can be inexorably caught in the "social services plantation," as he calls it:

Joe gets arrested for carrying a joint (or DUI, driving without a license, mouthing off to a cop, etcetera ad nauseum). Joe needs to have the financial resources, familial support, and a very understanding boss for the needed time off to make it to his court appearances, probation officer meetings, court ordered Narcotics/Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and he needs to make it home from all these appointments in time because he's also ordered to complete in-home detention.

One day Joe's car breaks down on the way home. He calls a tow truck. After the tow truck drops the car off at the repair shop, he calls for a taxi to take him home. He gets home an hour later than he's allowed, and fully expects to hear from his probation officer, but he's sure the tow truck bill, repair shop bill, and receipt for the taxi are enough to prove he is telling the truth. Sure enough, he gets a call, and he goes about explaining the situation. A few short minutes later, the police show up and arrest him for violating his probation. The probation officer tells him that the GPS device Joe is required to carry shows him being in the liquor store next to the repair shop, and any drinking is prohibited on probation. Joe insists he was only in the repair shop, but the probation officer doesn't believe him, and that's all that is required to put Joe in jail.

Now Joe, the kid arrested for carrying a joint in his pocket, is a part of the local jail population for the next month. Career destroyed, family starting to have enough of Joe's getting in trouble, and financially buried by the court costs, the cost of the in-home detention, the cost of probation, and the cost of missing work for the required appointments throughout the day, Joe gives up on living a "proper life" and gets mixed up with illegal activities in the jail, and the process continues. All that from an arrest for a non-violent legal infraction.

I know the above is a long anecdote, but it's a perfect illustration of one part of Carson's subtitle: "How Even a Single Arrest Could Ruin Your Life."

The only part that seems a little bit paranoid in this book is when Carson demonstrates how to make an arrest-proof car, complete with filling the glove box with expanding foam and super gluing the trunk shut. That's a bit much, but still understandable.

The best part of the book are the "Creds" he offers: Sheets of paper that have all the pertinent information a cop would ask for, along with a statement that your lawyer has told you not to say anything in those situations. That's worth the price of the book alone. I'm putting my Creds together right now.

Highly recommended for everyone--especially those in the most arrestable demographic: young, poor, minority males.

This is a tremendous book and is worth every penny because the people it will save from jail are not the true criminals (who ought to be there because that protects the rest of us) but those who just do dumb things like mouth off to cops. As the author says, jail is full of people who are there principally because a policeman didn't like the attitude they projected.

However, he could have saved even more people from jail if he had been more forthcoming and graphic about what happens there. The jail population would drop by half if people new exactly what takes place (courtesy of their fellow prisoners) behind bars. As a former police officer and current practicing criminal attorney, he is most definitely well aware of the unspeakable horrors awaiting both males and females in jail.

Of the How To" books, this one may be the most important one that you will every read.

Author Dale C. Carson is a former Florida street cop and FBI agent. He is presently a practicing criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville, Florida. As such, he is in a perfect position to reveal the brutal truth about how police work, their methods, dirty tricks, and motivations. He stresses that cops do not receive promotions or accolades for keeping the peace, or resolving disputes by negotiation, but are evaluated and promoted strictly on the number of citations issued and arrests made, especially felony arrests.

He goes on go to explain how easy it is for *anyone* to get arrested, a subtitle of the book. Most non-criminal "upstanding" citizens" can inadvertently become caught up in the criminal justice "plantation," to use a word coined in the book. Arrest records can have serious consequences, even if the charges are subsequently dismissed, not pressed, or you are acquitted. Such an arrest will doom you (especially young people) to a lifetime of low paid jobs, since many employers will not hire anybody with an arrest record, regardless of the judicial outcome or merit of the arrest. This is particularly dangerous in the age of electronic information, where records can last indefinitely. Before the computer age, written records often got lost with age. Not so now.

So the only practical approach is a defensive/preventive/proactive one. Sadly, most people with not read this book until it is too late, if at all. The "clueless" people, who don't even understand the basics of the system, but are either petty criminals or non-criminals, because in their addition to their lack of ability to keep court dates (they do not own or do not use calendars or alarm clocks), frequently turn minor charges to major ones by failure to appear and other add-on charges. Probably most of them are not even literate enough to understand the simple advice in the book.

This book explains how to keep from being sucked into the system. Once you are, it will be very expensive to get out, if it is possible at all. Numerous parasites in the criminal justice system, including cops, lawyers, prosecutors, jailers, social workers, psychologists, have a big interest in perpetuating the system. The most important battle to be won is for custody of your body - remember, cops are visually oriented predators, whose main motivation is to arrest you and take custody of your body.

Buy this book BEFORE you get sucked into the system, and save a lot of money and heartache. As noted by the author, if you are a real, habitual, or big time criminal, this book will not be of much use to you - you will eventually be residing at the "Graybar Hotel" sooner or later. This book, however, is a must read for the non-criminal, petty criminal, or "victimless" criminal, or just for anybody that is naive about a dangerous, unforgiving system, in which ANYONE can inadvertently be caught up in for a momentary lapse of judgment.