Explains what a police officer is and what their responsibilities are, including keeping people safe.

"Today's armored-up policemen are a far cry from the constables of early America. The unrest of the 1960s brought about the invention of the SWAT unit--which in turn led to the debut of military tactics in the ranks of police officers. Nixon's War on Drugs, Reagan's War on Poverty, Clinton's COPS program, the post-9/11 security state under Bush and Obama: by degrees, each of these innovations expanded and empowered police forces, always at the expense...

"A persuasive primer on police abolition from two veteran organizers"--

Recounts the stories of law enforcement officers caught in the line of fire, both those who have survived to tell of their harrowing experiences and those who have fallen in the line of duty.

Helps applicants prepare for police officer exams by providing a review of the question types used on recent tests given nationwide, full-length practice exams, explanations of correct answers, and test-taking strategies.

"A veteran police officer gives his thoughtful, balanced views on police shootings, racial profiling, community relations, and every other aspect of policing-- and he'll change what you think about the police ... Adam Plantinga, a 17-year veteran sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department, gives an inside view of the police officer's job, from handling evidence and conducting interrogations to coping with danger, violence, and death. Not hesitating...

"Recent years have seen an explosion of protest and concern about police brutality and repression -- especially after long-held grievances in Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in months of violent protest following the police killing of Brown. Much of the conversation has focused on calls for enhancing police accountability, increasing police diversity, improving police training, and emphasizing community policing. Unfortunately, none of these is likely...

Taking readers deep inside three unusual police departments in California, Colorado, and Georgia, this book, informed by research and by turns gripping, tragic, and inspirational, follows the chiefs--and their officers and detectives--as they worked to replace aggressive culture with something better. "Walk the Walk brings readers deep inside three unusual departments -- in Stockton, California; Longmont, Colorado; and LaGrange, Georgia -- whose...

"Matthew Horace was a law enforcement officer at the federal and local levels for twenty-eight years, working in nearly every state in the country. Yet it was after seven years of service, when Horace found himself with a gun pointed at his head by a white fellow officer, that he fully understood the racism seething within America's police departments. Using gut-wrenching reportage, on-the-ground research, and personal accounts garnered by interviews...