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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Starts a little slow - a lot of background info on the author and maybe too much time on her training. However, this is a really insightful look at the difficulties of policing and the clear areas for improvement. I was particularly struck by the insight that 40% of cops have PTSD type symptoms (as a result of their work) and they are often interacting with civilians who may have similar trauma. A dangerous mix.
i think brooks could have don’t a better job at incorporating her new ideas throughout the book instead of just throwing it at you in the epilogue. i was very frustrated with her at times while she was patrolling, but i understand how hard it could be at times in these types of situations. very eye-opening and explanatory for why most police officers act the way they do
The only thing that consoled me was my growing awareness that being a good cop was hard. In fact, it was nearly impossible. There was just too much to keep track of. Many officers were better at it than I was, but no one consistently did it well, because no one could do it well.
A fascinating look at the tensions between the police and the policed, from the perspective on an insider with sympathies towards both sides.
I enjoyed this book but I wouldn’t say that I was riveted by it. Brooks tells the story of being a reserve police officer and everything good or bad about the job but the main thing you get from this is that both the Police Department and the Criminal Justice System need a complete overhaul.
Brooks talks about those leaving the police academy many with the goal of helping the citizens in the poor neighborhoods but when you witness abject poverty day in, day out for 40 hours a week, where the rules of society are constantly against them from low paying jobs, lack of support and public transportation, experiencing this must have a detrimental effect on them. I think that they go 2 ways, one they lose all form of compassion for these people and consistently use an aggressive approach towards them or the empathize to the point that they cannot leave their job behind. It should be compulsory for officers who patrol the streets of places like 7D to attend monthly sessions with a psychologist especially given the statistics for police suicides. When people break the law in order to survive and our police officers are either too aggressive or mentally reduced to the point of suicide then we have completely failed them.
Brooks consistently mentions the multiple hats that must be worn by officers from upholding the law, to playing mental health worker, if the training she received is true then a police officer has less experience in dealing with mental health than any parent of a child with disabilities. If the training she received as an officer is about being on the offensive then its a wonder that there aren’t more police shootings.
Do I believe there is racism in the police? Yes I do but to say that it is prolific….. that is a big generalization, for the officers of 7D I don’t think its a big part of the equation as they are patrolling an area that is 87% black for other parts of the county especially where I live I would say that yes there is a racism problem.
In the end what I did decided that although she considered herself to be an average officer I thought that perhaps we could do with more officers like her. She seemed to have a measure of compassion and looked at finding a way to potentially de-escalate a situation and it would seem that adding de-escalation techniques to their training would be beneficial to all.
Brooks talks about those leaving the police academy many with the goal of helping the citizens in the poor neighborhoods but when you witness abject poverty day in, day out for 40 hours a week, where the rules of society are constantly against them from low paying jobs, lack of support and public transportation, experiencing this must have a detrimental effect on them. I think that they go 2 ways, one they lose all form of compassion for these people and consistently use an aggressive approach towards them or the empathize to the point that they cannot leave their job behind. It should be compulsory for officers who patrol the streets of places like 7D to attend monthly sessions with a psychologist especially given the statistics for police suicides. When people break the law in order to survive and our police officers are either too aggressive or mentally reduced to the point of suicide then we have completely failed them.
Brooks consistently mentions the multiple hats that must be worn by officers from upholding the law, to playing mental health worker, if the training she received is true then a police officer has less experience in dealing with mental health than any parent of a child with disabilities. If the training she received as an officer is about being on the offensive then its a wonder that there aren’t more police shootings.
Do I believe there is racism in the police? Yes I do but to say that it is prolific….. that is a big generalization, for the officers of 7D I don’t think its a big part of the equation as they are patrolling an area that is 87% black for other parts of the county especially where I live I would say that yes there is a racism problem.
In the end what I did decided that although she considered herself to be an average officer I thought that perhaps we could do with more officers like her. She seemed to have a measure of compassion and looked at finding a way to potentially de-escalate a situation and it would seem that adding de-escalation techniques to their training would be beneficial to all.
Rosa Brooks. What a treasure. I admire her more after reading about her voluntary experience in becoming a cop in Washington, DC. Brave and inspiring. Policing is complicated and there are no easy answers but this book helped me to understand the cops point of view, and obviously policing and criminal justice in America require transformation that will take decades. This books gives me hope. Thank you Ms. Brooks.
One of my relatives' husband is a D.C. cop, so this book felt very personal to me. If you really want to know what it's like to be a cop in a violent city, this is the book for you. What you'll find is that a cop's job is not all that dangerous (although they are trained to think it is), and almost all their time is spent on stuff that most of us hardly call crimes, like teen-agers congregating, family disputes, traffic violations and shoplifting (to name a few). In addition to satisfying your curiosity, I think this is an important book in the how-to-fund the police debate. I does not talk much (if at all) about the plague of homicides in D.C., I assume because the author simply didn't run into them that much. For that view, I highly recommend "Ghettoside" by Jill Leovy.
On the negative side, the author's navel-gazing on why she became a cop and her relationship with her mother was over-long and tedious. Not enough to ding the book a star, though.
On the negative side, the author's navel-gazing on why she became a cop and her relationship with her mother was over-long and tedious. Not enough to ding the book a star, though.
An insightful book that digs into the complexity of policing. I picked this book up when I was disgusted by yet another police shooting. Brooks' book was a good reminder that the issues in policing, while very real, are not black and white. I came out of this book with a more thoughtful and nuanced understanding of policing and the potential causes for the misuse of force we too often see.
I really appreciated this nuanced and enjoyable look at a very controversial issue. Brooks immersed herself in the police department as part of their reserve unit. Through this experience, she got to experience policing first hand, the good and the bad. And she realized that it isn’t as simple as cops bad, civilians good. The situation is much more complex than that. Through her writing, she proposes some radical reforms for the police, some of which sound very feasible. I can’t say whether or not this book will lead to any sort of lasting reforms but reading it gave me a new perspective on the issue of policing. And that was appreciated even if it didn’t change my overall stance on the police in general.