In the Name of the Law: An Oral History of Law Enforcement

In the Name of the Law is a great set of stories from law enforcement officers in the State of Alabama. Author J. Mack Lofton, Jr., traveled the state and spoke with people involved in local, state, and federal law enforcement. This book is consistently entertaining and is easy to read. Lofton organizes the book into a series of chapters on various topics such as getting started in law enforcement, domestic disturbances, murder, confrontations, etc. As a result, this book is episodic; it is easy to pick up and put down. Within each chapter, he uses verbatim quotes law enforcement personnel about their experiences on the job. I thought that one of most-interesting aspects of the book concerned the changes that the officers had seen during their years on the job; not surprisingly, the hiring of female and minority officers was a major focus. This book has some great stories. Some of my favorites were - - the discussion of moonshine. I had not thought that it would be interesting, but the stories are great. You definitely will not want to drink any "shine" after reading about the moonshiners' unsanitary drinks. - the story about a college professor who killed his wife and buried her under a fish pond in their yard - a discusison of a murder committed here in Mobile by a hit man. A local fast food restaurateur hired the hit man to kill his wife. It took several years, but eventually the authorities convicted the hit man and the woman's husband. Readers from outside Alabama may not enjoy this book quite as those from Alabama do. Many of the settings will be less familiar. In summary, this is an interesting collection of war stories from the front lines of police work.

In The Name Of The Law: An Oral History Of Law Enforcement, J. Mack Lofton, Jr. has assembled brief interviews with more than one hundred men and women drawn from the various divisions of law enforcement, including prosecutors; criminal court judges; bailiffs; probation officers; people working for county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, and others. An absorbing tour through real human voices shaping a concrete picture of the law as a living force in America today, In The Name Of The Law is an impressive and seminal work which is a strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, and academic library Judicial Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.