The author describes in vivid detail his experiences in various assignments during his thirty year career from vice squad to uniform patrol, detective and patrol supervisor.
In this powerful memoir about three generations of New York City policemen, Brian McDonald chronicles a hundred years of dedication, disillusion, heroism, and tragedy behind the blue wall of silence that separates a cop from the rest of the world. His grandfather, Thomas Skelly, entered the department in 1893, when the NYPD was little more than a brutal gang of organized enforcers and Tammany Hall a corrupt political machine that could make or break an honest cop's career. His father Frank's career would span World War II through the 1960s, taking him from street cop to squad commander of the Forty-first Precinct. Better known as "Fort Apache", it was a place from which few cops emerged whole. His brother Frank McDonald, Jr., went on to become a decorated officer, waging an undercover war on drugs and crime. From turn-of-the-century Brooklyn to the South Bronx in the 1970s to the bedroom communities of upstate New York, My Father's Gun combines a rare and intimate family story with turbulent social history.
During his 25 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Dean Scoville advanced from nervous recruit to silver-tongued spokesperson to seasoned patrol sergeant. His candid memoir chronicles the personal experiences of police work--the tedium of guarding jail inmates, the consternation of shoot/don't-shoot scenarios, the trauma of being wounded in the line of duty--and offers an insider's view of iconic moments in law enforcement, including the capture of "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez and the 1992 L.A. Riots. Along the way he examines a profession increasingly beleaguered by inimical agendas, administrative cowardice and fiscal restraints.
Lt. Patrick J. Ciser (Ret.) of the City of Clifton Police Department, in New Jersey, is also known to his many karate students as Sensei (Teacher). Ciser achieved national and international fame by representing the United States in five international karate tournaments, winning gold medals in South America and Europe. Pat Ciser, as he is known in North Jersey, grew up and became a police officer in Clifton in 1977. Growing as a police officer, he started to realize that with his martial arts skills, he could save lives, surprisingly, on both sides of the law. Newspaper accounts of Cisers exploits over the years bear witness to the true stories recounted in this book. Headlines and quotes give a glimpse of his illustrious career as he was continually called upon, in life and death situations. The Clifton Journal read, Pat Ciser, Cliftons answer to Superman New Jerseys Record wrote, Veteran officer compared to Chuck Norris; while the Heard News read, Action hero calling it quits, when announcing his retirement in 2008. Join Ciser as he recalls mastering karate, kicking in doors, and dodging bullets and blades. The only difference between the stories in Budo and the Badge, and the ones on the big screen, are that these stories are real.
From the Cold War through today, the U.S. has quietly assisted dozens of regimes around the world in suppressing civil unrest and securing the conditions for the smooth operation of capitalism. Casting a new light on American empire, Badges Without Borders shows, for the first time, that the very same people charged with global counterinsurgency also militarized American policing at home. In this groundbreaking exposé, Stuart Schrader shows how the United States projected imperial power overseas through police training and technical assistance—and how this effort reverberated to shape the policing of city streets at home. Examining diverse records, from recently declassified national security and intelligence materials to police textbooks and professional magazines, Schrader reveals how U.S. police leaders envisioned the beat to be as wide as the globe and worked to put everyday policing at the core of the Cold War project of counterinsurgency. A “smoking gun” book, Badges without Borders offers a new account of the War on Crime, “law and order” politics, and global counterinsurgency, revealing the connections between foreign and domestic racial control.
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author: “The story of L.A.’s dirtiest cop . . . A riveting glimpse of the dark side of human behavior” (Flint Journal). Bill Leasure was among the least ambitious officers ever to wear the badge for the Los Angeles Police Department. He was content to work the traffic beat and only rarely gave out tickets. He also ran scams that netted him countless riches, from stealing yachts to collecting guns and cars. And he further enriched himself by setting up a murder-for-hire ring. Was he in it for the thrills? Was he a cop playing both sides of the law for the fun of it? Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Edward Humes explores the lies and psychopathy that enabled Bill Leasure to fool even the most savvy of city prosecutors, his own wife. “Rife with vivid description. Disturbing.” —The Miami Herald “Fascinating . . . A superbly crafted chronicle of one of the most complex, enigmatic criminals in memory. Far stronger and more compelling than most crime fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews “Excellent . . . Authoritative, impeccably documented and disturbing.” —The Orange County Register “Painstaking research and hair-trigger pacing.” —Publishers Weekly
In Who I Am: The Man Behind the Badge, I'm going to describe all the gore, all the horrors and all the emotions I felt, not to gross you out but to let you know what I experienced.
In The Story of Oklahoma, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves appears as the "most feared U.S. marshal in the Indian country." That Reeves was also an African American who had spent his early life enslaved in Arkansas and Texas made his accomplishments all the more remarkable. Black Gun, Silver Star sifts through fact and legend to discover the truth about one of the most outstanding peace officers in late nineteenth-century America--and perhaps the greatest lawman of the Wild West era. Bucking the odds ("I'm sorry, we didn't keep Black people's history," a clerk at one of Oklahoma's local historical societies answered one query), Art T. Burton traces Reeves from his days of slavery to his Civil War soldiering to his career as a deputy U.S. marshal out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, when he worked under "Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker. Fluent in Creek and other regional Native languages, physically powerful, skilled with firearms, and a master of disguise, Reeves was exceptionally adept at apprehending fugitives and outlaws and his exploits were legendary in Oklahoma and Arkansas. In this new edition Burton traces Reeves's presence in the national media of his day as well as his growing modern presence in popular media such as television, movies, comics, and video games.
A killer is threatening the life of rookie cop Sydney Tucker's sister–unless Sydney turns over evidence from a drug bust. But she doesn't have the evidence. Not that the thug believes her. Now she and the sibling in her care are under the watchful eye of Logan Lake police chief Russ Morgan...
Badge of Color, Breaking the Silence documents Harlen "Lamb" Lambert's decision to apply and become the first African American police officer in Santa Ana, Orange County in 1967. This autobiography is both a memoir and a history lesson on his upbringing in the Jim Crow South, his time in the Army, and his career as a police officer where he served heroically. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of law enforcement, civil rights, and Southern California.