Cops: Their Lives in Their Own Words

This book is filled with short stories of cops in their own words. No censorship: From the cold description of an impaled baby on a tree on the scene of a terrible car accident to a blown up drug addict body in a bloody appartment. I almost vomited on my way to work when I read it two years ago on the city bus. So be sure to be prepared for horrible descriptions, lots of action and a superb inside view of the psychological aspect of the policemen/women. But remember that the tales are mostly taking part in the early 1980s. Every chapter starts with the author's take on a selected aspect of the police work. Are you ready for Atari-boy-killer, incredible housecalls, drugs, alcohol, sex and corruption? Then this book is for you. Very easy reading because each story is clearly divided by little stars. A must for police-related readers.

I read Baker's "Nam: The Vietnam War in the Words of the Men and Women Who Fought There" and loved it. And "Cops" didn't disappoint either. I first read it a number of years ago and have recommended it highly ever since. It's a fantastic book, much more comprehensive than Connie Fletcher's "competing" (but still good) book, "What Cops Know." As you might expect, the stories run the gamut from heartbreakingly sad to laugh-out-loud hilarious. Every serious student of law enforcement should read this book. I think I'm up to three full readings. Other cop books I recommend: "Close Pursuit" by Carsten Stroud and "Boot: An L.A.P.D. Officer's Rookie Year" by William Dunn.

What a book! I could not put this bestseller down. Great insider stuff. this is so true what cops go through. A first class thriller.

I read this book years ago and I still find myself reccommending it to peers and relating some of the stories I've read. We have a lot of friends of the family who are cops, and they all agree that this book tells it like it is.

The author has taken us to a place that we have looked at as outsiders. After reading this book I finally have a glimmer of understanding of what police officers see everyday risking their lives. You can no longer look at an officer of the law as just a "uniform, badge and a gun" they are men and women with families like the rest of us.