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Reviews tagging 'Death'
Forced Out: A Detective's Story of Prejudice and Resilience by Kevin Maxwell
1 review
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
3.5
I first heard of this when Bernadine Evaristo recommended it on her Instagram. I was particularly interested in a UK perspective because a lot of the conversations on racism in policing are focused on the US. It's Maxwell's memoir of his time in the police and eventual employment tribunal against them. At first he avoided complaining about everyday incidents of racism and homophobia, knowing it would draw more negative attention from his colleagues, but eventually the stress of working in such difficult surroundings led to him being signed off with depression.
It was a really eye-opening read. A lot of the information was shocking but not really surprising. Maxwell describes the way harmful, racist behaviours are incentivised in the police, like how they're encouraged to reach arrest and stop and search targets like they're sales targets. He discovered how impossible it was for new recruits, however good intentioned, to change a system embedded with racism, homophobia and sexism when they're taught by the same instructors who've been upholding it for years.
The second part of the book focused on the complicated process of pursuing an employment tribunal against the police which I sometimes found a little hard to follow. However I think that was mostly because I was listening to the audiobook and found it harder to remember names and acronyms.
His resilience through it all was so impressive and ultimately it's just disappointing and frustrating that someone seems like the perfect candidate for public service - honest and fair with a firm sense of justice - was pushed out.
It was a really eye-opening read. A lot of the information was shocking but not really surprising. Maxwell describes the way harmful, racist behaviours are incentivised in the police, like how they're encouraged to reach arrest and stop and search targets like they're sales targets. He discovered how impossible it was for new recruits, however good intentioned, to change a system embedded with racism, homophobia and sexism when they're taught by the same instructors who've been upholding it for years.
The second part of the book focused on the complicated process of pursuing an employment tribunal against the police which I sometimes found a little hard to follow. However I think that was mostly because I was listening to the audiobook and found it harder to remember names and acronyms.
His resilience through it all was so impressive and ultimately it's just disappointing and frustrating that someone seems like the perfect candidate for public service - honest and fair with a firm sense of justice - was pushed out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racism
Minor: Death
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